If Worlds Collide
by HetaliaRose16
Summary: What happens if the countries stumble into another world, but only two young girls can recognize them? I don't usually like OC's, but when one of them is based after me, I get extensive. Rated T because France. Germany/OC, France/OC, N. Italy/OC, Hong Kong/OC.
1. Chapter 1: Adventures at WAL-MART

Collision - A Hetalia Fanfic

Chapter 1: Whaaaa?

(A/N:_ Sorry if this chapter is super, super short. It's just an intro. Most of the other chapters are over 1,000 words. By the way, if you don't like romance, feels, or correct grammar, don't read this fanfic._)

I walk out of WAL-MART, expecting to see the regular, crowded parking lot. I do. As I walk out to the car that my parents got me for my 18th birthday, I brush the long, black hair out of my face. I hate it when my hair is in my face, but I don't have any ponytail holders with me. As I put away my numerous groceries, I see a tall, blonde man walk past. He looks confused and lost. Being the person that I am, I go talk to him. My mom would have scolded me, but she's... not here anymore. "Excuse me sir, are you lost?" I say in my very light Italian accent. I was born in Rome, but my mother and I moved when she divorced Daddy, who got my 7-year-old Welsh-born sister. I was only 11 years old. "Ah, yes. I am," the man says in a very thick German accent. I look up at his face and gasp. His piercing eyes, perfect hair, and stern-looking jawline are absolutely unmistakables, his face looking very confused and stunned.. "My name ees Ludvig. This may sound silly, but could you tell me exactly where we are?" I smile, my cheeks getting slightly pink." This is New York City, in the USA. You know, Alfred's country?" I say casually, glancing up to see his reaction. He looks shocked. I pull him around a corner. "I - what - how..." he stammers. I laugh a little. "How did I know who you were? I just ... recognized you. Why, does nobody elIse recognize you?" "No," Germany replies. "I walked by a poster of me with a lot of people around it, and nobody gave me a second glance." "Hmm," I reply. "Well, you probably have no place to live, do you? I have a penthouse in a big skyscraper over there. See that pointy pink spire in the distance? That's right on my roof. I have 7 extra guest bedrooms, other than the one that my little sister Charlie occupies. You are perfectly welcome to live with me for as long as you need." Then, I pull the German into my awesome black car and hop into my side. I open a can of sauerkraut and hand him a fork. "I love this stuff," I gush, putting a small forkful in my mouth.(_A-N: I do actually love sauerkraut. Yummmm.)_ "Oh, by the way, I'm Arietta, " I murmur with a mouthful of sauerkraut. Germany chuckles as I drive out of the parking lot. "It ees very nice to meet you, Ah-ree-yetta." I just grin, my blush no longer hiding. This is a dream come true.


	2. Chapter 2: Fountain Vandalism

(A/N:_ This chapter depicts Germany the way **I** imagine him. My story, my ideas. If you don't agree, go jump in a lake. A message from the foundation for a less annoying life._)

I tape a really awesome poster of a German history timeline on the bedroom wall. There's already some brand new posters( cool-looking planes, different German Olympians, and one _Sports Illustrated_ swimsuit cover. He really had to beg for me to get that one) on his wall, but this one is just cool. It has all the wars that Germany participated in, with pictures and a background of the German flag. Germany smiles up at the timeline above his new comfy bed. "Wow. You have really outdone yourself. This is just amazing." I smile at him, leaning over to pick up a large stick from the floor. "Careful," Germany says, magically appearing by my side. "Herr Shtick doesn't like being manhandled." "Oh, doesn't he?" I ask, teasingly. "Well, we'll have to fix that." I grab Herr Shtick and start switching him from hand to hand. "AUGHH! NEIN! NEIN!" Germany screams, snatching Herr Shtick away. I laugh. He puts Herr Shtick up on a shelf, mumbling curses in German under his breath.

I quietly sneak up behind him, then jump onto his back and throw my arms around his neck. "PIGGYBACK RIDE!" I scream and pull Germany backward slightly. CRASH. We tumble onto the floor. I wrestle him furiously, trying to get him off of me, but he turns around and wrestles back. Around and around we roll. While he obviously has more strength and mass to tackle me, I could endure a lightning bolt to the head. Finally, I end up punching him in the neck, which forces him to roll off of me and on to the floor beside me. We lay there, panting from exhaustion. Then, he gets up and grins in a way that I'm sure NOBODY has seen. "Zat vas a better fight than I've had in years." I grab his shoulder and pull myself up, too stubborn to let him help. Then, we push ourselves off of the floor and somehow manage to stumble our way into the big living room. However, he collapses on the floor before we get to the couch. I try to pull him up, but that muscle mass is heavy.

After about 5 minutes of trying, I just give up and sit on his back, turning on the TV. "Mrrph" Germany says, his face pressed into the floor. Instead of getting up, I just scoot a little further away from his head. Then, I tickle the back of his neck until he lifts his head. "DON'T DO ZAT!" I laugh, rolling off of him. Naturally, Hetalia is on. He sits up, his eyes wide. He looks like a baby Rottweiler. "Vait, is zat... is zat me? A- and Gilbert?" "Yep. How else would I recognize you?" "I- I don't know," he says. I look at him, and a little tear rolls of his cheek. He turns away. "Oh, curses. Crying is veakness," I hear him mumble under his breath. I place my hand on his back, but he cringes, expecting a slap. _Oh, _I realize._ Germania must have hurt him whenever he cried. _I gently hug him from behind, and the tenseness dissipates. Germany sits up a little straighter. "I just- vell- I miss my family," he says, his voice breaking. I hug attack him. " Well, you're here. I don't see why they wouldn't be. In fact, I have to go to Central Park today. Would you like to come with me?" He smiles and stands up. "Let's go, zen."

"OI, YOU BLOODY YOUNG LAD! IF YOU'RE GOING TO SWIM IN THE FOUNTAIN, AT LEAST BREAK OFF A PIECE! YOU CAN'T HAVE FUN WITHOUT VANDALISING OTHER PEOPLE'S STUFF! Oh- no- here, break that little angel wing. See? Yes, like that. Oh no, there's a cop coming. RUN, RUN LIKE THE WIND!" Germany and I stare at the short blonde guy with huge eyebrows, helping a child vandalize a fountain in Central Park. "Yep, Germany, I believe we just found England right there," I laugh. "Vell, lets go get him zen, before he breaks a building or something like zat," Germany replies, a smile at the corner of his mouth. He then shoves me unceremoniously towards England. This is our new symbol for "Go get the country before someone loses an eye._" Attack mode activated. _I start running towards England, leaping on him once I'm about 30 yards away. "AUUGH!" I tackle him to the ground, then sit on his stomach triumphantly. Glancing over at Germany, who is rolling on the ground with laughter that he can't contain, I start chuckling as well. Loooking down at the shocked and squirming England beneath me, I say, "It's fine. I know exactly who you are, know that you're homeless, and I know that the person who is GETTING GRASS STAINS ALL OVER THE BRAND NEW SHIRT THAT I JUST BOUGHT HIM is Germany. I'm going to take you to my penthouse so that you don't have to sleep on a bench anymore." England just looks up at me in amazement.

I tell him how I found Germany, explaining the WAL-MART thing. "Ah," he says as I pull him off the ground and Germany drags him to my car. "So we're all scattered about the biggest city in America. How lovely." I am about to reply when somebody with glasses and an old military jacket pops out of nowhere. "Iggy! Bro! Welcome to NYC! Who's this chick! An- wait, is that Germany? OHHHH this is awesome!" he says. Germany, England, and I all groan in unison. "America," I say. Then, Germany explains the story as I keep England from running away. "Cooool, dude! Hey, yo, I don't have any place either, so I'm gonna crash with you too!" "Shouldn't you have a house?" "Nah, bro. Different dimension and all. Is there room in your car for 4 people?" he asks, though it's obviously not a question. I point over to my car. Iggy and America sit in the back, providing entertainment for me in the form of stupid arguments, while Germany grabs the passenger seat. After about 5 minutes of sitting in the car and listening to Germany yelling at the two countries in my backseat, who are fighting over a piece of licorice that America found in his pocket(It's my licorice, bro! My pocket, my licorice! No, you bloody fool, I _invented_ licorice!) I just squee. Like this. "Squeee!" Germany looks over at me. "Vat?" I blush. "Nothing, nothing at all."


	3. Chapter 3: You're kidding me, right?

(A/N: _This one is short too. Sorry, but it's hard to update when there's only one computer in your house and your parents are trying to rip you off of it. Anyway, we find one of my personal favorite countries in this one._ _Oh yes. Honhonhonhon.)_

We stop at WAL-MART for the third time today to buy some room decorations and bedding for everybody, then we get to the penthouse. Iggy and Alfred choose their rooms and start decorating excitedly while Ludwig starts making sausage for dinner. I just smile. "Alright, everyone. I've got to go downstairs. I work at the front desk of this building, because my uncle owns the entire building. That's why I get a free penthouse. I'll be back in 5 hours. Iggy, don't kill Alfred. Alfred, don't eat more than 2 jars of that Nutella. Ludwig, make sure nobody dies." I say, picking up my keys. "Only answer the door if it's a country. I'm locking the penthouse, there's no reason for any of you to go anywhere else." Ludwig nods and picks up a taser that I bought him specifically for these purposes. "I've got it under control," he says, a slightly evil smile on his face. I just grin and walk out.

I'm about to step off of the elevator when a handsome man with long, blonde hair and deep blue eyes runs in and hides behind me. I look out the door and see an angry-looking woman storming around the lobby. I turn around and see the one and only France behind me, cowering in fear. I put two and two together, then sneak him behind my desk. The angry woman leaves. "Oh, Francis, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" I ask him. He reacts to it the way everyone else did, and I quickly explain. Just then, a 15-year-old redhead with messy long hair and piercing green eyes walks over That's my little sister Charlotte, but she prefers to go by Charlie. I flash back to 7 years ago.-

_"Doctor, are they going to be okay?" Charlotte asked. The doctor just smiled at her, then turned to me. "I need to talk to you in private," he says to me. I nod, and we go into another room. "Your father is going to die, we expect within the next 10 minutes. The impact of the other car was just too much. You'll have to take care of that little girl now." A tear falls down my face, and the doctor gently pats my shoulder. "I think it would be best if you informed your sister. My condolences. If there's anything you need..." he says, his voice trailing. "I'll be fine," I say, walking out of my room and into a brave new future. Ever since Mom and Dad divorced in Italy, Mom taking me and Dad taking Charlie, life wasn't the same. I had no idea how to take care of Charlie, but it was time to start a new life. We would have to stay together now.-_

I snap out of my brief moment of sadness and look up at Charlie. "Hey Arietta, there's a woman over here who- holy sweet baby muffins, is that FRANCE?" she asks incredulously. "Oh, yes. And England, Germany, _and _America are all in our penthouse, too. I found them at WAL-MART and Central Park, and I'm pretty sure France just escaped yet another adventure where he sexually harassed someone and she slapped him. Nobody else seems to be able to recognize them, though." I say, putting a small Band-Aid on France's cheek. Charlie just looks on in amazement. France manages to get a good, long look at my pretty face, and his expression changes entirely. "So tell me, _ma cherie_, how old are you?" he asks, putting his hand on my cheek. _Sighhh._ My cheeks flush red. France has _always_ been in my top 3, right alongside Poland and, of course, Germany.

Charlie snaps out of her trance and looks down at me as I stare into the face of the most gorgeous country alive. SLAM. She stomps on his hand, and he cries out in pain. "Nope, there will be _none _of that with my big sister. I know that she would say yes to any_ request_ you had within 3 seconds, but I'm not letting it happen." France gets up, nursing a red and rather painful-looking hand. "Well, I have to keep working over in the back, so you'll stay with me," Charlie says. "Normally, I would let you work the desk, but there's no way I'm leaving you with her. Come with me." France looks back at me while he is dragged away, and I wink at him. He grins and blows a kiss. Ohhhhhh no. I can't let any of that happen. There are rules, after all. But, this is a different world... no. No no no. I shake my head and start working, though I can't get over the fact that I just stumbled into one of my favorite countries of all time. _Sighhhh. _


	4. Chapter 4: Pfft

(A/N:_ This chapter is a little longer than the first three. Sorry if my chapters are short. Don't kill me. Anyway, after chapter 7, which is much loaded with cuddle romance, they'll get longer. Oh, and for those of you who don't know the human names, Ludwig is Germany, Arthur/Iggy is England, Alfred is America, Matthew/Mattie is Canada, and Francis is, obviously, France.)_

As France, Charlie, and I walk in the house, it's eerily quiet. "LUUDWIG! I FOUND FRANCE !" I call. Germany pops out from a corner. "I had to knock America out. England is tied to a chair. Oh, hello, _Francis_," he says with an air of disgust. "It seems that our amount of empty rooms is decreasing. And you must be Charlie. Nice to meet you." They shake hands, and Charlie goes to her room. She has to go draw some more fan art of Veniciano . I walk into England's room and see that he is, indeed, tied to a chair. France peeps in, then abruptly falls to the ground in laughter. "OI! YOU BLOODY FROG, YOU HAVE NO REASON TO LAUGH! IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT I HAD TO PUNCH AMERICA IN THE FACE BECAUSE HE WOULDN'T GIVE ME THE REMOTE! UNTIE ME! I MUST **_KILL THE FROG!" _**England screams as he struggles furiously against the ties. "Oh, Herr Cuckoo Clock has really done it this time hasn't he?" France asks, barely managing to contain himself. I decide to show France the room I chose for him, which is as far away from England as possible. It's also very close to Germany's room. And mine. Hehehehhehee. Woops, what a coincidence.

It's finally bedtime, so everyone goes into their rooms. I shut off all the lights in the house, then go to each individual country's room to say goodnight. First, England's room. He's snuggled deep under a blanket I bought for him that has a picture of a cool pirates ship. I kneel by his bed and slowly peel off the blanket. Two bright green eyes stare back at me. "I bought you something, England," I say, pulling out a Flying Mint Bunny plushie from behind my back. He pokes his head out and I give him the plushie. "Yay! Thank you thank you thank you!" he squeals. I hug him, seeing the blush on his cheeks as I pull away. "Goodnight, England," I whisper. He smiles and then retreats into his pirate blanket. Shutting his door, I go to America's room.

He's laying on his race car bed (oh, he BEGGED for that one) and seems to be talking to himself with his back facing me. I quietly sneak up to hear what he's saying. "God, I don't know if you're up there, but please make sure that Mattie is safe and that we'll find him soon so I can take care of him." I gently touch his shoulder, and he turns around. There are tear lines on his cheeks. He scoots up quickly, and I sit on the bed next to him. He's about to speak, but I interrupt. "We'll find Matthew. I promise. Tomorrow, you and I will go to Central Park. I imagine that's where he'll be. After all, that's where you and Iggy were." America smiles for a minute, then hugs me. I rub my hand over his back soothingly, then gently lay him down. He looks up at me, his blue eyes shining. I hand him a little wooden airplane. "This is for you," I say. He smiles and places it gently on his nightstand. Then, I put the American Flag blanket over him and turn off his light. "Wait," he calls. I turn around. " I'm scared of the dark. There could be ghosts." I smile and turn on a little nightlight in the corner. "Don't worry, the ghosts are all in Iggy's room," I whisper, smiling. Then, I shut the door.

I am about to walk into Charlie's room, but I hear her maniacally laughing and realize that she is busy drawing terrible bloody pictures of all the ways to murder France. Probably best not to disturb her. Instead, I decide to visit France and make sure he's not tied to an electric chair._  
_

I walk down the hall, sighing as I enter France's room. He is standing by his closet, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. I shiver, trying to withstand the beauty before me. He picks up a violet shirt, then puts it back, shaking his head. "Oh no, no no no. Zat's one of those _American_ designers." I walk up to him and put my hand on his shoulder, pulling out a nice shirt imported directly from France itself. He smiles and hangs it in his closet. "Perfect." He then turns towards me, and I try not to faint. He obviously sees that I'm dizzy with the sight of him just standing there shirtless, because he takes my hand and lead me to a small loveseat in the corner. "You never told me your name, _ma cherie._ Or your age," he adds quickly. "My name is Arietta," I say. He wraps his arm around me. "I'm 18." Though he doesn't say it aloud, the excitement in his eyes shows exactly what he's thinking. _Honhonhon, so she's legal._ I hug him, my arms wrapping around his perfect body. He embraces me as well. I look up into his eyes, but rather than lust, there is tenderness within them. I get up, though it's all I can do to not stay. "Goodnight, France. Have the sweetest dreams." I walk out of his room and close the door, sighing.

I then walk in to Germany's room, which is right next to mine. He sits on his bed, holding a picture. His face is buried in his hand. I walk over and sit next to him, glancing at the picture. It has Prussia and Hungary arguing, with Germany trying hopelessly to pull them from each other. I look at his tear streaked face and gently rub his arm. He looks at me and smiles, though the tears still run. Then he quickly turns away, obviously embarrassed. "Ludwig, crying is okay. It's not healthy for you to hold the tears in," I say, stroking his arm tenderly. He turns to me, and his face looks as if he has no idea what's going on. Then, abruptly, he hugs me. My eyes widen at first. Germany _never _has shown tenderness before. I then hug him back, speaking soothingly in his ear. His sobs rattle his body, and consequently mine. " _Ich liebe dich_," he whispers quietly into my shoulder. _What does that mean? Oh. Ohhh. That means I love you in German. Ohhhhhh, let's add one more person to Charlie's hit list. I should really get up. I should really get up right now. _Instead of getting up, however, I press my arm into his back. He looks up at me, and before my brain can think, my heart goes for it. I kiss him.  
At first, both our eyes are open in surprise. _Did I just do that?_ Then, his eyes close and he starts kissing me back. I can't believe it. No way. No. Freaking. Way. I'm kissing Germany. After about 3 minutes, I pull away. I stroke his hair tenderly and whisper into his ear, "Goodnight, Germany." He lays down on the bed and I pull the blanket of the German flag over him, tenderly stroke his arm once more, then walk out of the room, turning off the light.  
Sweet mother of cats. I just kissed Germany. And he kissed me back. How did that happen? How did any of this happen? I run into my room, looking at the poster of Germany on my wall. I then look at the posters of France and Poland. I smile at my Poland poster. _Oooh, I hope we find him too. Then I'll get to choose between stern and extremely amazing, romantic and sexy, or fabulous and fabulous. Yay._ I slowly slip into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5: Guess who I found?

_(A/N:_ _This chapter is partially for my best friend Olivia, who was the inspiration for Charlie. She said she wanted to be paired with her adorable favorite character, and I paired her with him. However, I had to bring his twin along because if I didn't, I would be chased by angry mobs in the streets. And, if you haven't noticed, I use lots of pronouns. I like pronouns. They make writing a little easier.)_

I wake up and get dressed in a white, low-cut, long-sleeved shirt and a red plaid miniskirt, because I feel beautiful and want to show it. I walk out of my room, seeing that nobody else is awake yet. I decide to make them each breakfast in bed. First, I make some scones. _Real_ scones. The ones that aren't burnt to a crisp. I put them on a tray with silverware and some honey butter, then take it to England's room. He hangs halfway off his bed, the pirate blanket strewn across his legs. His hair is even messier than it usually is. I place the tray on his bedside table and gently shake him. "Mrrrg," he groans, then looks up at me. His eyes widen at the sight of my outfit. "Umm, uh, hello," he says, sitting up quickly. I hand him the scones and smile. "I made these for you," I gently say, watching as he eats quickly. He smiles at the now-empty plate. "That was amazing!" he says happily. I give him a shirt that I picked out of his closet, then leave so that he can dress privately.

When I close the door, I see America standing right in front of me. "Oooh, do you have a crush on Iggy?" he teases, pointing at the door. "Wha - I - no, I was giving him breakfast." "I don't believe you," he teases, then grabs my pink hairpin from my hair and races down the hall with it. I chase him. "Alfred, come back here with that!" I leap on his back and we roll on the ground. I grab the hairpin from him and get up quickly. "I was going to get you breakfast too, but nevermind." He pouts at me, then crawls after me to the kitchen. I pick up the small plate of pancakes, and he gives me the puppy dog eyes. "Aw, fine." I give him the plate and he takes it to the table, scarfing it down. Suddenly, we hear a loud _CRASH. _It's coming from Germany's room. I run over, America close behind. Opening Germany's door, I see France and Germany furiously wrestling on the ground. France looks like he's about to murder someone, but Germany just looks confused. America yanks France away yelling "I'M THE HERO!" while I rush over to Germany, frowning at a scratch on his arm. "What happened?" I ask Germany. "I vos combing my hair ven ze idiot came in and called me a voman-stealing pig - ouch - zen he leaped on me and started trying to kill me. Naturally, I didn't vant to be killed, so I wrestled back," Germany replies, emitting a soft cry of pain when I dab a bit of antiseptic on his scratch. I stand up and look at France expectantly. He glares at Germany, then turns away. "Tattle-tale," he mutters.

"Everyone else go to the living room, I have to talk to Francis. _Alone_," I add menacingly. Germany and America go into the living room. I turn to France. He's sitting on the bed, a tear running down his face. I rush over and sit next to him. "What happened, Francis?" I ask tenderly. He sniffles. "I- I saw you kissing Germany last night. It filled me with a terrible mix of anger and sadness. I've never felt like that about a girl before," he says, leaning his head on my shoulder. Then he shifts his head a little. At first I'm confused, but then I realize that my shirt's neck is low-cut. I tap his ear. "Hey, no peeking," I say to him. He shakes his head. "Sorry. Habit." I look at his face. He looks sad and scared and lost. Then, he looks up at me and smiles. A heated feeling creeps up my neck as he pulls me closer. "France, I- I don't know. It's just that my feelings are so confused. I only met you yesterday, and before that, all of you were like gods to me. I just don't know how I feel. With Germany, he's got a shell outside that's harder than steel, but inside he's soft and warm and fragile. You. however, are beautiful and exciting and amazing and I.." He presses his finger to my lips. "I know, _ma cherie._" he says, gently stroking my hair.

Suddenly, we hear Charlie enter the house. I run out and see that she's pulling two people behind her and making a face that only I recognize. It's her fangirling face. I glance at the people behind her, and my jaw drops. She grins. "IT'S THEM!" she squeals excitedly. An annoyed face peeks out from behind her shoulder, his red hair sort of messy and his curl askew. "EEP! How on Earth did you find the Italy twins?" I say, rushing over and pulling Romano out of her grasp. "You and Feli will have to share a room. It's okay, you can pick whichever bunk you want," I say, smiling at him. Charlie drags Feli, who is passed out for reasons I don't want to know, to the room with a bunk bed. Romano and I follow. Romano immediately takes the bottom bunk, and I gently lay Veniciano on top. I put a dish of pasta under his nose, and the scent wakes him up. "Veee! Pastaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"he says excitedly, taking it from me. "Should have left him asleep," grumbles Romano down below. I hop off of the ladder and sit on his bunk. "Don't worry, I have some for you too," I say, handing him a larger plate. He lightens up considerably and starts eating.

I leave the room, and see Germany sitting still and not enjoying the fact that Charlie is angrily throwing potatoes at him,while England, France, and America are in a full-out brawl. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" I shriek. Everyone goes dead silent and stares at me, while I notice Romano giggling from a corner. "It's time we got some order around here. These are the rules. NO extra food. NO arguing. NO breaking things. AND NO FIGHTING!" Germany smiles. He loves order. America and England look at me, ashamed. France, however, looks excited. "Wow, I've never seen you get angry," he says, walking closer to me. "_I like it," _he whispers in my ear. I blush fiercely, then turn and leave to the kitchen so I can escape any of my feelings and get some cleaning done. Charlie comes into the kitchen with me, but it's only to grab the rest of the potatoes. I don't stop her, because I know that no amount of straitjackets can restrain her from attempting to kill anyone who seems to have romantic interest in me.


	6. Chapter 6: Beware of the feels

_(A/N: EXTREME FEEL ALERT. IF YOU DON'T LIKE FEELS, DON'T READ THE CHAPTER. THERE ARE FEELS. Don't worry, though. They;re not sad feels. They're adorable feels, but they come at the end. There's a bit of feels in the second paragraph, then romance and affection in the 4th and 5th paragraphs, then extreme feels afterward. Sorry, but feels are nice sometimes.)_

As I put dishes away in the kitchen, Romano walks up to me. "Yeah," he says in a sarcastic and bored tone, "not to bother you, but my brother and your sister are totally making out in our room." My eyebrows raise. "That's nice. It's bedtime now, so just walk into the room and say something mean and sarcastic. Just stay away from her hands, or she'll murder you slowly and painfully.," I reply, not even looking up. Romano grins and rushes to his bedroom. A few seconds later, I hear a terribly loud shriek that sounds vaguely Romano-like, and see Charlie walk out, fuming. "At least I didn't make France do it!" I call to her. She storms into her room and slams the door. Everyone in the living room starts laughing. "Alright, bedtime," I say. Iggy and Alfred frown, but Ludwig gives me a knowing smile and Francis just looks excited. Everyone goes into their bedrooms, and I follow England. I tuck him into bed gently, pulling his pirate ship blanket over him and gently caressing his hair. He looks up at me with those brilliant green eyes, and I tuck Flying Mint Bunny in. "Sweet dreams, Arthur." I'm about to get up when I feel his hand grab my arm. "Wait," he says. Then, he pulls me down and hugs me. I smile at him. "Goodnight." Then, I walk out and close the door.

I walk into America's room. He is curled up on the floor, crying. I rush over and drop to my knees next to him. "What's the matter, Alfred?" I ask worriedly. He looks up at me. "We haven't found Mattie yet, and he's not good at being alone. This is New York City! Bad things happen to people who are alone. What if he's lost? What if he's cold? What if he was mugged? What if..." he starts crying again. I pull him off the ground. "No more 'what ifs'. We're going to go out and find Matthew_ tonight._ Get dressed and meet me in the living room in 10 minutes," I say, smiling. America grins. "We're going on an adventure? I grin right back. 'Oh yes, we're going on an adventure to save Mattie. And _you _get to save him. _That's what heroes do._" He runs to his closet, and I walk out.

I say goodnight to Romano and put a blanket of the Italian Flag over him. He loves this blanket because _Veniciano didn't get one._ It makes Romano feel more important. just has a blanket with a picture of pasta. I walk out of his room and start towards the hallway where France, Germany, and I sleep. _How am I going to do this?_ I ask myself. Then, I approach France's door.

France is in his bathroom, brushing his hair before he goes to sleep. I quietly sneak up behind him and run my fingers through his hair, whispering "How lucky am I to find myself in a house with such an incredibly attractive man?" He turns around, and rather than saying something, he lifts he up and kisses me. I wrap my leg around his torso. He is about to carry me to the bed when I break the kiss. "I can't, Francis. I came in here to tell you that I have to leave for an hour or so. America and I are going out to find Canada. I just couldn't leave without kissing you first." He smiles at me gently. "I will miss you, _ma cherie_." I smile at him and kiss him once more, then go to Germany's room.

Inside, Germany is sitting on his bed and fluffing his pillow. I don't hesitate. I leap onto him, my lips meeting his. He falls backward, his head landing on the pillow he just fluffed, but then he kisses me back. I break apart the kiss and tell him about where we're going. "Alright, _mein liebling._ I understand perfectly. I look at his face and want to kiss him forever. But, no. I don't have time. I just kiss him once more, a wonderful kiss that I still feel on my lips as we break apart, then I get up and exit the room.

America sits on the couch, dressed in his usual military jacket. "Alright, ready to go?" he asks, standing up. "Let's do this," I reply. Out the door, down the elevator, and into the cold night air. As we get into the car, I see the worried look on Alfred's face. "I hope we can find him. He gets so scared," the country said, locks of his light hair blowing into his eyes. I stop him. "America, don't be worried. He'll be fine. As long as you believe we can find him, we can. You're the hero, right? The hero always wins." He smiles gratefully, and we get in the car to drive to Central Park.

As we get out, I see a dark shape wandering around and hear a quiet voice crying. America sees it too, and he's off. "MATTHEW! MATTHEW!" I see the shape turn around, then start running right back towards America too. They leap at each other, and America lifts up Matthew, never letting go. I run towards the two of them. America cries into Matthew's sleeve. "I thought you would get hurt. I was so worried." Matthew cries, too. "I had to sleep on the bench. I was so cold and scared. People kept walking by as if I was just a bad memory. I thought nobody would ever come to find me."

America introduces me to Matthew. "This is Arietta. She's the real hero. I'll tell you all about it on the way back to the house. Oh, Mattie! You're going to love the house! You can see all of NYC from the window. You can sleep in a room with me, if you want. Arietta even bought cool decorations from Canada because she knew that we would find you," he gushes as we drive home. I wipe away a few tears, because the feels got intense back there. As we get to the penthouse and go into our seperate rooms, America chatting excitedly to Canada all the way, I just smile. Awww.


	7. Chapter 7: Oooh, romance!

(A/N: _As the title suggests, the first two paragraphs are *gasp* romance. After this, the chapters will be much longer. Oh, and don't worry. There are at least 4 more countries I'm bringing in throughout the rest of the story. But none of them are Poland, because I decided that Poland can just live a happy life with Lithuania and their ponies. Oh yes. I ship it. MUAHAHAHAHAHA. POLITHUANIA TO THE END! Wait, why are there furious mobs spawning outside of my house? Please don't kill me.)_

The next morning, I stumble into Germany's room, shivering. The air is freezing cold. He lies awake on his bed, the blanket pulled over everything except his eyes. He looks at me with the piercing crystals, and my cheeks heat up despite the cold. I push him over and crawl under his blanket, shivering. He pulls me closer and kisses the top of my head. I smile, but I sit up. "I'll get some clothes for you," I say, getting out of bed and shivering my way to the closet. I pull out a white t-shirt with sleeves that go to the elbow and green cargo pants. Jogging to the bed, I pull the shirt over his bare arms and throw the pants next to him."You'll probably want to put those on yourself," I chuckle. He looks down under the blanket, seeing that his legs are only covered by a pair of night shorts, and his cheeks redden. He may be a secret pervert on the inside, but he still likes to pretend he has dignity. I walk out of the room, shivering the entire way. Before I close the door, I see Germany smiling at me. I look down and realize why I'm so cold. I'm only wearing a white tank top and blue shorts. I chuckle inwardly.

Then, suddenly, I hear a light French accent behind me. "Wow, so that's what she looks like in the morning." I turn around and see France standing in his doorway, wearing nothing but a towel. His long blonde hair leaves trails of water on his chest. I walk over to him and hug him, although he's not any warmer than me. In fact, he's shivering too. I scurry into his room, not able to stand the cold. "So it's not just me, then," he shivers. I sit on his bed and wrap the flag around me. "Nope," I say. "Why is it so cold in here?" He just shrugs and sits next to me. "You might need some clothes, by the way. It's not generally polite to walk around the house mostly naked,"I say playfully. He smiles a smile that I know too well. "Why, do you want to watch?" he asks misheviously. My face heats up, but I hold my ground. "As much as I would like to," I say honestly," I'll have to pass. I've got to get in something warmer than this." He looks at my figure, standing out obviously in what little clothing I have. "So I'll be guessing that there'll be no sexy miniskirts today?" I walk over and pinch his cheek lightly. "No, I'm afraid that this isn't really that kind of day." He pouts. I walk out, leaving him to get dressed, but I make sure to move my hips. Sure enough, when I turn around, he's staring at me. "Hey, no teasing," he calls out as I laugh, shutting the door.

I quickly run into my room. Picking out a long-sleeved navy blue sweater and a red pleated skirt that stops just at the knees, I try to sort out my feelings. _How do I choose? Normally, I would pick Germany. He actually loves me for sure, he's never acted so tender to anyone else that I've seen. But this is different. France's view on me isn't completely lust. Does he love me too? Gah, I don't know._

I walk into the living room and see that everyone else is up. America is in his "Stars and Stripes" footie pajamas and shivering under his flag blanket, while Canada is just sitting on the floor in his maple leaf pajama tank top and shorts, eating pancakes with maple syrup and watching _Gossip Girl. _There's also a large bundle of blanket with the U.K.'s flag on it and two green eyes poking out that I can only assume is England. Germany and France are dressed, but sitting at opposite ends of the room and on different couches. Romano is out, too, but he's completely bundled in his blanket. I can't even see his face, and the only reason I recognize him is because of the blanket. I have no idea where to sit. _If I sit with Germany or France, the one I'm not sitting with will be intensely jealous. America will try to squeeze the bodily warmth out of me, and so will Romano. England's taking up his entire chair with that huge blanket. So, that just leaves Canada._ I walk over and plop over on the middle of the rug next to Canada, who smiles at me before turning back to the TV. However, I hear his quiet whisper of "You didn't forget about me." I smile. Awwwwwwww, that was adorably sweet and sad. Then, I realize something. Venicciano and Charlie aren't in the room. _  
_

I walk into the Italy Brothers' room, but find that Feli isn't in his bed. Hmm. I decide to enter Charlie's room. I've never actually inside before, she's so evil and insane that I'm always afraid she'll put me in an electric chair and slowly stab me with a spoon, so when I enter her room, it's not at all what I expect. The walls are lavender, and there are pink flowers hanging from the ceiling. There are pictures of Felicciano everywhere. Her evil scary drawings must be hiding somewhere else. I look at the walls, shocked, but then a small flicker of movement catches my eye. I look over at the bed (which is also pink and purple) and see Charlie and Venicciano cuddling. Awwwwww! I slowly walk over, then tap Charlie's sholder. She wakes up and looks at me, then the tired expression turns into dread. She slowly gets up, and Venicciano just rolls over on his belly. Once we exit the room, I start laughing. Charlie facepalms. "So, you found out that I'm a girly girl." I try to say something encouraging or kind, but it just comes out as "BWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA-s-sorry-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" It's not until she slaps me that I manage to contain myself and get up off the floor.

"This is precisely what I was afraid of," she says as Germany and France come over to check out whatever just happened. "Vat ze hell is going on?" Germany says, his expression annoyed. Then, seeing that I'm fine, he relaxes a little. "Oh, nothing," I say as I stumble back to the living room, the cold re-entering my body. Charlie is about to go back into the room and snag one of her drawings of violent ways to murder people, but Venicciano woke up when Charlie wasn't there anymore to provide warmth. He shivers, then flies over to the couch and cuddles next to his now-annoyed twin. Romano looks like he's about to say something mean, but Feli's added warmth shuts him up. I just shiver and scoot closer to Canada for more warmth. Man, it is colder than Russia in here. *dun dun duuuuuunnnnnnn*


	8. Chapter 8: Fort WAL-MART

_(A/N: OKAY, OKAY. STOP MESSAGING ME ANGRILY ABOUT THE FORESHADOWING AT THE END OF CHAPTER 7. I'M SORRY. I had to provide even a slight explanation for why it's so cold. I just know it has something to do with Russia. How did Russia do it? I don't know. He's Russia, maybe he called up General Winter or something. We won't find him in this chapter, but maybe next... . This chapter is mostly just fluff and cuteness and romance, so it's not really necessary to the plot, but hey, if you want cuteness and more Charlie/Venicciano or Arietta/Germany, then read away. In fact, there's a vote going on. Who should Arrietta end up with? Email nampagirl with TEAM GERMANY or TEAM FRANCE. I'll count the votes and see who wins! Go ahead and email, but NO SPAM or I will ned the contest with no result and choose for myself. At any rate, here's chapter 8. Hey, that rhymed. *gets hit with brick* Okay, okay, I'll give you the story.)_

As we walk through WAL-MART, we get strange stares. Then again, I guess 7 men and 2 girls walking in a singe-file line together will do that to you. "Hup, 2, 3, 4," we all say in unison as we march down the aisles and avoid stares. "So, remind me, vy are we in WAL-MART again?" Germany asked, poking his head out from behind France. I reached back and lightly smacked his hand. "Because we obviously need some shock collars or something. What happened today between you and France was shameful," I reply curtly, though I secretly smile because he's Germany and I could never be mad at him for more than 2 hours. "Hey, he wouldn't give me ze remote when it vas my turn to pick ze show," he grumbles, but stops when I give him a piercing look and wave a hat that says "I get jealous easily" on it. "That doesn't mean that you can slap him in the face and call him a two-faced fru-fru loonypants," I say, grinning at the ridiculous insult. He blushes and gets back in his place. The order of the line goes like this: France, Germany, Charlotte (France and Germany are in between me and Charlie in case another argument breaks out, though I'm not so sure that having Charlie so close to Germany where she could easily stab him is that good of an idea), then Venicciano, England, Romano, America, and Canada. (A/N: _No, the line is not favorite to least favorite. I LOVE Canada, so shut up.)_

We arrive at the intersection between toys, hunting gear, and clothes. "Company, HALT!" I say to the 8 people behind me. Everyone stops directly in their tracks. I see Germany's smirk because of the whole weird army knowledge thing. "ABOUT FACE!" I command as everyone turns. I walk along the line, my back perfectly straight and my camo tank-top looking awesome with my matching cargo pants. "Okay. Commander Charlie, you take Lieutenants Venicciano, America, Canada, and Iggy to the toy section." Charlie leads the four happy-looking countries to the toys, holding Feli's hand all the way. Awwww.. "Seargant Romano, here's 50 dollars. Go crazy, make sure Charlie doesn't get anywhere close to the knife section." Romano accepts the money with an evil glint in his eye and off he goes.

I am left with France and Germany. France actually looks a little worried, but Germany is trying to suppress a grin. I loosen up and smile at them. "Okay, now the real reason we're here. Germany, go buy your own clothes. I'll come help you in 20 minutes. rance, let's go pick out something that looks normal for you to wear." France walks to my side, but Germany just stands, stiff as a board. "Oh, right, right. Company, DISMISSED!" I say, laughing a little. Off Germany goes. France and I go to look at some long-sleeved dress shirts that aren't weird. I hold up a normal-looking, crisp, white shirt. "What about this?" I ask. I see the look of horror on Francis's face, and I laugh. "I know it's not high fashion, but it won't make you look like a male ballerina whenever you go out in oublic," I laugh, motioning to his vibrant spring-green shirt and turquoise pants. He looks down at them, then looks up at me with one eyebrow raised. "Is zere something _wrong_ with being beautiful?" he asks, flipping his blonde curls in a way that he knows makes me melt. I barely contain myself from tackling him to the floor. "I-I-..no. It's just that you get weird stares from everyone when you go out like that in public," I say, shaking my head to concentrate. "_Fine,"_ he says annoyedly. I take him to the dressing rooms, then sit on the bench. "Not coming in with me?" he asks flirtatiously. I laugh and shake my head. He waltzes into the stall, overexaggerating his walk as he swings the door shut. As soon as he enters the stall, I burst out laughing. "HAhahahaahhah!" France pokes his head out, looking a little perturbed. "I can still hear you," he whines. I run up and bop him on the nose, making him pop his head back inside the stall.

Germany walks into the dressing room area too, then seems startled when he sees me sitting on the bench. "Oh, um, guten tag," he says. It almost seems like he's nervous. I get up on the bench and take a step towards him. At first he smiles, but then he cringes as if somebody is about to whip him. 'France, I'll be back in a minute," I call to France. "Okay," he replies. I then take Germany by the hand and lead him away, into an area with a buch of pants. "What's wrong, Ludwig? You're acting strange." He looks at my worried expression, then sighs. "Your little sister approached me once you valked avay with Francis, and told me zat if I vanted to continue living, I vould have to back off of... of you." He looks as if he's about to cry. "I... I don't vant to. I-I... I love you," he whispers. I smile, then suddenly pull him closer and kiss him on an impulse. He immediately relaxes and lifts me up, causing some ladies who are putting away shirts to stare at us. I actually hear one of the younger ones sigh. He puts me down and smiles at me for the first time today. Then, he goes into his stall and starts trying on the camo muscle shirts he picked out.

It goes on for half an hour. When Germany isn't showing me the clothes he picked, France is. I enjoy it greatly. Germany walks out wearing a muscle shirt that shows off his muscular form. _Yum_, I think to myself. Then, France walks out wearing a red tango shirt that actually looks really awesome on him. _Double yum._

Charlie walks into the dressing room followed by all the other countries, including Romano. All of the countries are holding small piles of clothes. "Go," she says, and they each file silently into different stalls. It actually looks silly, because she's a little 15-year-old who's commanding 5 tall men around. I laugh. This, naturally, makes Germany come out. I see my sister attempt to death-glare him, but he doesn't even flinch. Instead, he sits by me calmly and even puts his arm around my shoulder. Charlie gasps in horror, then glares at him until Feli comes out wearing a red dress shirt. She applauds excitedly and runs up to tell him how amazing he looks. France comes out as well, but he's just wearing his "normal" clothing. "They all fit," he says with a wave of the hand. He sits on the other side of me and puts his arm around my waist, much to the annoyance of Charlie _and_ Germany. I hear her growl and glare at France even harder. He backs up a little and squeezes me closer, probably for a small manner of protection. Charlie stands up and slaps France in the face ( I stare on horrified, but Ludwig bursts out in uncontrollable laughter.) "Don't even TOUCH my sister. She doesn't want any men. She's my sister. MINE." France and Germany both look at me, then the three of us burst out in laughter. I stand up and take my sister to the rack of shirts, away from everyone else. "Look, Charlie. If they want to hae a romantic relationship with me, then you can certainly be mad at them. BUT. Don't ever slap them. At least, not while I'm around. When I'm not, you have full permission to be a big evil demon towards both of them. I just don't want to see it. Okay?" She grins and nods enthusiastically. "Or else I'll slap Felicciano." She looks at me in horror. "You would _never_ slap my Feli!" she cries, horrified. "Only if you don't slap my Ludwig or my Francis while I'm in the room." We shake on it, then join the 7 countries who are now all squished on one bench. "Alright, let's go buy your clothes and get out of here before the freeze invades the store," I say. We all get back in our single-file order, then get to the registers. All that strangeness, and only in one day. What a life.


	9. Chapter 9: Kolkolkolkol

(A/N: _Yes, we'll finally find Russia in this chapter. The angry emails can stop. It's cool. The contest for TEAM GERMANY or TEAM FRANCE is still happening, though. It'll go on until April 14, 2014. That's my birthday, so it'll be all of your birthday presents to me wrapped up in a big fanfic romance. Whoop-de-do. Alright, LET'S GET READY TO RUSSSIAAAAA!)_

" ARIETTA! YOUR POTATO LOVING MAN-TANK JUST TOOK AWAY THE METAL SPOON I THREW AT HIM!" I groan and roll out of bed. So much for an afternoon nap. "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE THROWN ANYTHING METAL AT HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE!" I call out, irritated to have been awoken from my slumber. Charlie walks in, fuming and shivering at the same time. "Tell him to give it back!" she says angrily. I laugh. She's the cutest little 14-year-old ever. Instead of responding, I pull her under my blanket. She acts irritated, but my warmth soon wins her over. "We should find out why it's SO FREAKING COLD IN HERE," she says, cuddling up next to me. I grin. She gets so irritated by these little things. Then, Canada walks in with Kumajirou. "AAH, IT'S A LITTLE POLAR BEAR!" shrieks Charlie excitedly, then she pulls Kumajirou under the blanket with her. He looks up at her quizzically. "And you are?" the little white bear asks. "I'm Charlie," she squaks, then she looks over at me excitedly. Canada stands in the doorway, laughing. "Um, everyone else is just bundled up in blankets in the living room and not talking. I'm a little lonely. Can you come out there and make people start a conversation or something?" he asks quietly. Charlie doesn't even hear him. I get up, though my body is saying _GET BACK IN THE BLANKET YOU'RE ONLY WEARING A TANK TOP AND JEANS YOU'RE GOING TO FREEZE TO DEATH,_ and walk out with him. I don't see any people in the living room, only large lumps of blanket on the various furniture.. "Hey guys. Feeling a chill?" I ask sarcastically. At the sound of my voice, the German and French flag blankets move, and two heads pop out. "Arietta!" Germany says my name enthusuatically, then motions his head toward an empty space on the couch between him and France. I sit down, and he unfolds his blanket just enough for me to go in. France frowns and pokes his head back underneath his own blanket, murmuring something like "She likes me more, he's just about as attractive as an old dirty rag." I giggle, then squeeze Germany's hand affectionately. Canada sits on the floor, still wearing his tank top and shorts, and turns on the TV. Guess what's on? Yep. Hetalia. Canada starts watching, and all the countries slowly poke their heads out of the blankets. "Oi, is that me?" "Whoah, DUDE!" "_Honhonhon,_ so I'm even sexier on television." Then, the episode in a Japanese dub with Russia's frightening _kolkolkol_ thing comes on. Everyone screams in unified terror. "AAAH! WHAT ZE HELL?" "Dude, that is the most legit scary thing I have ever seen." A high pitched shriek shakes the entire building, and we all look over at Venicciano, who is so terrified that he's squeezing the life out of the first person he grabbed. Poor Romano. I manage to reach my hand over Germany and claw at Feli until he lets go of his twin brother. "AUGH!" says Romano as he is finally freed and able to breathe. "I don't know which was scarier, the demon with a scarf or my brother's death vice." We all manage a weak laugh. "Alright," I say, running over to the closet to grab my coat. "I'm going to go outside and see f there's an evil snow monster or something that's bent on making us freeze to death. Canada, you're with me. The rest of you can get some hot chocolate. Charlie, if they make a mess, don't hesitate to tie them to the side of the building until they shriek for mercy." Charlie grins and looks maliciousy at France and Germany. "Ah," Germany says worriedly, hurrying over to us, "I sink I vill come with you. For, ah, protection." I grin and nod. "Alright. Charlie, if you try to kill France, I won't hesitate to throw you into Liberty Bay from a helicopter. Byye!" I call as we walk out of the penthouse. All the way down the elevator, Germany squishes me. He's completely unused to this freezing cold weather. It's funny, you think I'd be the one who was unnaturally freezing. Oh well. As we walk out of the building, we notice something _very_ unusual. The entire street is covered in ice. No, not covered. _Caked_ is more like it. Nobody is out driving, it's much too freezing to even think of going outside. Then, one of the old ladies who lives in the apartment below us calls me. "Hmm?" I say into the phone. "_Dearie, what are you doing out there with those two young men? It's dangerous. We haven't seen a winter like this in New York since... well, I don't think there's ever been a winter like this! Why is that young man only wearing nothing but a sweater and jeans? He looks as if it were merely fall! He's not shivering! He's... smiling! Dearie, you should get up here and away from those creeps. Come and see us, dear,"_ Mrs. Overland blabs into the phone. I wave up at her window. "It's fine, Mrs. Overland. They're just my friends. I have a warm coat on, we're just... conducting some business," I say into the phone. "_Alright, dearie. If you want to hang around a bunch of weirdo tourists." _She hangs up, and Germany notices my odd smile. "It's just one of the ladies upstairs," I tell him reassuringly. We walk around the corner, and see a very strange sight. Someone is actually outside other than us. He's sitting on a bench and twirling a little wilted flower around his fingers. I hear him humming softly to either himself or the flower. I start quickly walking towards him. There is definitely only one person in the entire universe that could ever be doing that. Ever ever ever. I hear Germany and Canada gasp as they, too, realize exactly who it is. Canada shrieks and tries to run away, but Germany grans him by the sleeve and pulls him along. As we get closer, we see the giant scarf around the man and note his white hair. I immediately run the rest of the way and scoot on the bench, sliding into him. He turns around. "Allo." I squeal and tightly hug the extreme adorableness in front of me. "Russia!"


	10. Chapter 10: Kesesesesesesesesese

(_A/N: Olivia is here writing this chapter with me today. We're gonna bring in a little bit of awesome in this chapter(kesesesesese), but next chapter we'll bring in Hong Kong. Ohhh yeah. Olivia wants Charlie to be shipped with Hong Kong __**and**__ Italy. So, yeah. Two love triangles in one fanfic. Yay! Oh, by the way, should I ship US/UK in this? I mean, it is adorable... leave some reviews for this chapter and tell me what you think.)_

Russia walks into the apartment, and everyone in the living room seems to freeze. Venicciano lets out a small "eep," then faints onto Romano, who topples over with the added weight. France immediately grabs England and holds him in front of himself, yelling "meat shield!" America just walks over and smacks Russia on the back. "Yo, Russia, wazzup?!" France tosses England away and points at America, saying "If you eat him, will that be considered sacrifice and we won't have to die?" Charlie runs over and leaps at him. "RUSSIAAAA!" He doesn't even blink, he just stays there with that adorable smile. "Hello!" he says cheerily. For some reason, everyone else (Charlie included) cringes when he speaks. He turns to me. "So, I need a room, da?" I grin and point at his room. Russia smiles once more, then goes in to set up all his stuff. It warmed up considerably (hmmm wonder why), so everyone is out of their blankets. England walks up to me with a quizzical and amazed look on his face.

"How did you do that?" he asks. "Do what?" This seems to frustrate him. "You know what," he says, growling slightly. "You got Russia to smile. The only time I've ever seen him smile is when he's covered in the blood of another vctim. How did you get him to smile without murdering you?" I back up a little. "He just smiled at me. I don't know why. It just happened. Maybe he's happy that he got accepted into a family and he didn't have to force anyone to spend time with him." England looks shocked. "Russia doesn't have feelings." At that, I smack him in the face. "LOOK, has just as many feelings as you do. Maybe even more. Do you realize what he's been through? The only people that ever liked him were his sisters, one of which left him. He lives all alone in his once-full house. He has been left behind, abandoned, and judged. You need to get a reality check, England." I walk away, fuming. Everyone stares after me in awe. Well, except Charlie. She just smirks and says "If you think that's bad, you should see her when she's actually mad. It gives me nightmares."

Germany hurries after me into my room. "That vas... interesting. Why did you get all furious at England?" I look at him, and my temper lowers. "I don't know," I say, walking into his arms. "I hate it when people judge others. I just... they used to do that to me. At school. I watched anime a lot, and they called me a nerd and threw things when I walked past. The last straw was when someone threw a book at my head. It was right next to some stairs, and it put me in the hospital for 2 months with broken ribs." I start crying, and press my face into Germany's chest. He protectively wraps his arm around me. "It's alright, _liebling_." I look up into his face and see that he's crying too. Aww. I gently reach up and kiss him, hoping it will last forever.

A few hours later, we're cooking some food. It's a full Russian dinner, to welcome Russia. England comes in and sits grumpily on the couch. Germany nudges me and motions toward England. "You should talk to him," he says. "I'll handle ze dinner." I sigh, then go over to England and sit next to him on the couch. He looks over at me, and my heart breaks. He looks so hurt. "Iggy, I'm so, so sorry. I wasn't trying to be mean. It's just... Russia does have feelings." I hug him, and his tenseness goes away. "No, I should have never ever said Russia doesn't have feelings. It's just that he's very good at hiding them." I oul away, laughing. "Well, everyone is. I never knew you were so sensitive to me slapping you." He chuckles. "Yeah, well, I wasn't expecting any physical violence. Not from you. You just seem to be the kind of person who doesn't do that. Charlotte, maybe, but not you." At the sound of her name, Charlie comes running around the corner. "** I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME CHARLOTTE!**" She leaps on him and tackles him to the floor. "AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!" After a few minutes of screaming and scratching, Iggy seems to get his strength back and launches Charlie off of him. She actually flies a couple feet before smacking into the wall. She looks furious. "THAT LIMEY-" I shove a pair of socks in her mouth. "If you even think about swearing, I'll launch you myself," I say in a deadly whisper. She nods, then gets up to glare angrily at England. "Don't think that I won't murder you slowly in your sleep as you hang from a balcony over lava." Iggy backs away, looking genuinely scared. I flick Charlie's forehead (which she absolutely hates) and give her a good-natured shove towards her room. "Go use coloring books with Feli or something, and don't blow anything up."At the sound of Felicciano's name, she races into the Italy brothers' bedroom.

I turn to go back and tend to any major wounds in England, but, seeing that America's already there being a hero and hitting England with cheeseburgers, I realize that it's fine. Probably. I decide to go into France's room, because I haven't really spent a lot of time with him lately and he needs some luvs. Not to mention, he's probably still laughing that I smacked Iggy in the face. Sure enough, when I walk in, he's rolling around on the floor. "Honhonhonhonhonhon!" I grin and nudge him with my foot. He gets up, though he's still laughing. "Now England got hit by somebody other than me!" I start giggling, too. That laughter is contagious. Soon enough, we're both laughing our butts off about it. It feels good, there hasn't been much to laugh about lately. Suddenly, we hear a loud "NOOO!" and someone laughing annoyingly. We run out, and see Germany furiously wrestling with someone on the floor. I get a glimpse of silvery hair and red eyes. Omigosh. Prussia. I run over, squeeing a little, then try to pull Germany off of his brother. "Ludwig, what on Earth? How did...what..." Germany gets off of his brother, and Prussia laughs. "Oh, so now you need help from a little girl?" Germany looks over at me, and backs away, seeing the deadly expression on my face. He looks at Prussia with slight pity. "You shoudn't have done zat." I grab Prussia by the shirt collar and hold him above the ground. He stops laughing and starts looking afraid. "Umm, Ludvig, how is a skinny little girl holding me up off ze floor?" I throw him at the wall and watch as he sinks to the ground, nearly unconscious. "It's called years and years of getting bullied. You want to call me a little girl again?" Prussia just laughs. "You can't beat me, I'm awesome." I kick him hard in the stomach and kneel down to his now-cowering body. "If you even think about being slightly demeaning to me ever again, I will rip your precious little nose off, sew it back on upside down, and dangle you off the balcony. Understand?" Prussia nods vigoously, and I pull him to his feet. I see Ludwig laughing so hard that his hair is getting messed up. "He's not so awesome now, is he?" Germany says, tears from laughter streaming down his face. I just grin. I just beat up Prussia,one of the most awesomest people of all time. That's what I call a victory.


	11. Chapter 11: We get banned from WAL-MART

(A/N:QUICK WARNING:_** MAJOR SAD FEEL ALERT AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER. DRAMATIC BACKSTORY AND FEEL ALERT. **This chapter is about 1,000 words longer than the others**.** And I know that I'm bringing way too many people into the story considering this is only the eleventh chapter. But there's still more. I'll only bring in one more country for the next 5 chapters, but then... I can't promise there won't be more. I have to incude so many countries, and a lot of them are coupled/connected with someone so I can't have one without the other. For instance, I had to bring in Venicciano, but you can't have just one of the Italies. Come on. I am only bringing one Asian in here, though.(No, it's not racist, there's just too many countries and not enough rooms in my fictional penthouse.) By the way, keep the emails coming. TEAM GERMANY or TEAM FRANCE. E-mail it to nampagirl and I'll keep it going until I've written the entire story.)_

Russia and I sit on the couch, discussing the downfall of American economy, while America sits next to us, continually trying to interject trying to interject. CRASH. "COULD YOU BLOODY GERMANS KEEP YOUR KILL-FEST DOWN? I'M TRYING TO HAVE MY EVENING TEA IN PEACE!" Britain shrieks at Germany and Prussia, who are wrestling violently on the manages to lift his head and utter a swear word before Prussia takes the opportunity to punch him in the neck. Then, the chaos continues. Charlie sits on the floor boredly, next to a sad-looking Feli. They went through an argument, and poor Venicciano is so sensitive. " You know, I didn't mean to say that you were too violent-" Feli starts, but Charlie just scoots away. I get all depressed all of a sudden. Look at us. It's almost Christmas, and everyone's in a horrible mood.

France comes in and sits next to me. Immediately I snuggle up against him. Germany once again manages to lift his head up and whine a tiny bit. Then, he is yanked back down as Prussia rolls over and shoves his head to the floor. France senses something wrong with me. "What's wrong,_ ma cherie_?" he says, softly stroking my hair. I look up at him, my eyes watering. "It's like nobody is happy anymore," I say, burying my face in his chest. Germany manages to finally punch out Prussia, and he comes rushing over to comfort me as well. His comfort is all hot and sweaty, so it doesn't do much, but oh well. France shoves him away and pulls me closer, but Germany pulls me towards him. "Guys, please! I do NOT want to be part of a insane tug-of-war." They stop pulling me, and France suddenly brightens. "I know what will cheer you right up! Christmas shopping!" I look up at him, the sadness melting off of my face. "Yaay!" I squeal, and off we go.

I hand Charlie a 50 dollar bill. "Go ahead and get candy and chicken and movies and torture devices, or whatever your heart desires." She nods and runs off excitedly. Germany and France both link their arms to mine, and off we go. I see a huge poster of the Italy twins holding pasta. "Oooh, let's buy two of those!" I say, and Germany and France both nod in agreement. Then, I pull both of them towards a particularly large rack of shirts that say the word "AWESOME" on them in large print. "Oh look, I found stuff for Gilbert and Alfred!" Germany chuckles lightly. "My bruder does seem to think zat of himself." he says. France snorts. "Oh please. Your older brother couldn't be awesome if he tried." Germany actually looks furious. He takes a step towards Francis, absolutely completely fuming. "_If you think for one second zat-"_ I step in between France and Germany. "Whoah, whoah, whoah." Germany glares at France over my shoulder. "I am ze only one who can say something bad about Gilbert. One more word from you, and I will not hesitate to rip the stupid blonde curls straight from your head." France pulls me toward him. "If you do that, she won't hesitate to hurt you," France points out. I step away. 'That's it. Both of you, look at eachother." They start to protest, but I give them the death glare. Sighing, they turn to eachother. "Now hold hands," I say. They both look at me in horror. "**_Do it before I hurt_**_ you._" I growl in a deadly tone. Germany roughly grabs France's wrist. Both of them look absolutely disgusted. "You will do that until we're done shopping. Now, let's go find some more presents." I walk towards the men's clothing, and both of them reluctantly follow me.

About 20 minutes later, after checking out, we see smoke and hear a large BOOM. Several people with charred hair come running from the ice cream aisle, screaming. Charlie comes running towards us too. Her hands and arms have third-degree burns, and a boy who looks about her age comes with her. She smiles weakly at me. "Hi, Ari-" She is stopped when I grab her arms. I start shrieking angry words at her in German. "_Was haben Sie getan? Sie hätte sterben können! Wo haben Sie für Hongkong? Was in der Welt haben Sie getan?_" I shreik. (What have you done? You could have gotten killed? Where did you find Hong Kong? What happened?) Germany glances at me as I yell at my burnt little sister, and scoots closer. "Oooh, you speak German." Charlie looks at us, and desperately tries to find something to say. She decides to go with one of the two German phrases she knows. "_Lila Serviette!" (A/N: that means purple napkin in German. My friend Olivia doesn't know the German word for purple. Hehehehe) _Germany looks at her incredulously. "She knows German?" Germany asks, returning from his daze. "Only about two phrases, but yes, she knows German. She doesn't hate German people or the language, she just hates you," I reply. Hong Kong stirs, then gets up from the floor. "Uggh. Charlie, what happened? Oh, this is your sister. Did you tell her about the illegal fireworks yet, or..." By the look on my face, he realizes that Charlie didn't mention that little detail. "YOU USED ILLEGAL FIREWORKS TO BLOW UP WAL-MART?" I shriek, my temper returning. Charlie slowly nods, guilt spreading across her already bright-red face. "They're not illegal in China..." I stop her. "THIS ISN'T CHINA!" Germany picks up Hong Kong, and I drag Charlie out of the store. France follows behind, still frightened by the fire everywhere.

We bring the two reckless children into the house. As soon as England sees Hong Kong with scorch marks all over. he drops everything. "Hong Kong!" he cries, snatching him from Germany's grasp. "Oh, what happened? Are you hurt?" he asks. Then he sees the burnt, red arms. "Oh no! What happened?" he cries, taking Hong Kong over to the couch and cradling him. Hong Kong squirms. "Let me go! I had an accident with some freworks in WAL-MART. I'm fine-OW. That hurt." he says, trying to free himself from England's arms. I walk over. "They're both covered in third-degree burns. Neither of them will go outside for a few months, they have to heal up. And before you say it, no. We can't call a doctor. He'll question us, and figure out that they were the ones who set off explosives in WAL-MART. We have to stay out of the public, at least for now." Engand nods, then takes Hong Kong to his room. "They probably need rest." he says, laying Hong Kong down on his bed. I nod and pick up Charlie, though she squirms in protest.

"So, exactly what happened?" I ask, gently brushing her snarled and burnt hair. "Well, I was looking through the ice cream, when Hong Kong bumped into me. I recognized him at once. Then, he showed me that he had a paper bag full of fireworks that he got from China, and... we didn't mean to light them. We just found some matches and..." she trails off, then starts crying. I hug her. "It's okay. I'm just happy you weren't killed or anything." She smiles up at me. "I love you." I pat her head, then let her lay down. Slowly getting tired, she closes her eyes. _She's adorable when she's sleeping,_ I think. Then I get up and close the door. Everyone is yawning and watching TV tiredly. "Okay, everyone. It's been a really, really, REALLY long day. I thnk we all deserve some rest. And a couple of Germans need some first aid. Everyone go to bed now, and I'll make lots of food in the mooooorniiing!" I call out. Each of the countries slowly gets up and stumbles to their rooms. France looks at me dejectedly, then turns to his room and goes in with a loud sigh.

I turn to look at Germany and Prussia. Holding out his(very bruised) arm, Prussia walks up to me. "Make my awesome arm better so that I can be awesome. HAHAHAAHA just kidding. I'm already awesome," he says, laughing. I turn to Germany with one eyebrow raised. "Do you think you can bring your awesome older brother to your room? Without killing him?" Germany sighs, then grabs Prussia by the arm and drags him over to the room that they now share. Well, so much for personal mornings with Germany. I walk into France's room. He's sitting on his bed, looking kind of depressed. I walk over and sit close to him. "What's wrong, Francis?" I ask, laying my head on his shoulder. He looks over at me. "You like that muscular potato more than me. You even speak his ugly language," he says, frowning. "Oh, that's not the only language I speak fluently," I say, gently running my hand through his beautiful blonde waves. He purrs. "_Je t'aime."_ I look at his beautiful face. _Aaah, why is he so gorgeous? _I ask myself. He gently places his hand on my face, then brings my lips to his. I sigh, then return the kiss. Yet another thing to check off my bucket list: _Kiss the most beautiful man ever created. Check. _I realize something. How am I going to decide between France and Germany? They're both so perfectly perfect. This will only make it more difficult...

After 2 minutes, I break the kiss. "Goodnight, _ma cherie,_" he says, tenderly stroking my cheek. I want to stay longer, but we both know that it's not the best time and place to continue. As I tiptoe out, I notice Charlie in the kitchen. I try to sneak out of the doorway, but she notices me. Her face turns as red as her hair, and she gives me a look of pure fury. Shutting the door, I walk over and put my hand over her mouth before she starts screaming at me. She shoots daggers at me with her eyes, and when I lift my hand, her words do the same. "What in the world were you doing with that - that - that fruitcake?" she stutters, trying to find an accurate word to describe France. "You know, as much as you don't like it, I can have as many relationships as I so desire," I say, waving my hand dismissively. "I'm just trying to make sure we don't have another incident like the one with Brandon," she reminds me, and I flash back to 2 years ago. -_We had been so in love, and it was almost our one-year anniversary of dating. He would take me to see the productions on Broadway, and we would have picnics in the park. He even comforted me when my mother had died just one month ago. I hadn't found out about his gang activity until the day before. He said that it was just a small amount of money that he owed, that he would get out of it as soon as he could, and that we could be together again soon. The next day, we were walking down the street, when he noticed someone on the other sidewalk. He quickly pulled me into an alleyway and told me to hide in a cardboard box that was lying nearby. The second I was safely hidden, some guys showed up. I could see their faces clearly through a tear in the box. They mentioned something about "too late" and "big mistake. Then they shot him. They shot him right before my eyes. They didn't even look at Brandon twice, just left his body in the alleyway. I cried for months. First my mother, then Brandon. All in two weeks. Amazing how drugs can do that to people, just take them. Ruin their lives and the lives of everyone who loves them, and then just take them away forever. It wasn't until 4 months later that they found and arrested his murderers. I had to testify at the trial. I'll never forget the looks on their faces when they realized that it was over. That look when all the hope and light in your life fades away, and there's nothing left but fear. I almost pitied them, but not quite. It's hard to pity someone who scarred you for life.- _

I wake up, and I'm on the floor. Charlie is leaning over at me and placing a cold rag on my forehead. "You blacked out again... I should never have ever brought that up," she says, tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry..." I smile weakly at her. "Let's just go to bed," I say, pulling myself onto my knees. I've blacked out in worse places. She nods and kisses me on the forehead, then runs off to her room. Her arms are still bright red from the firework burns. Poor thing._  
_


	12. Chapter 12: Christmas!

(A/N: _Yep. Told you there would be a dramatic backstory. Ohhh, never thought I would bring in sad and terrible backstories with murder and drugs, did you? Nobody said it would be all happy sunshine and rainbows. In fact, all the story so far has been in winter. Anyway, this will be the chapter where Christmas happens. Even though it's February in real life. Oh well. I wonder if anyone's even reading my author's notes anyway? I'm not getting many reviews... Anyway, I am using some human names in this chapter, so heres a recap of all their names: Francis=France, Ludwig=Germany, Feli/Feliciano= Venicciano, Lovi/Lovino=Romano, Matthew/Mattie=Canada, Alfred=America, Arthur=England, Ivan=Russia, Gilbert=Prussia. ) _

"ARIETTA WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP IT'S CHRISTMAS WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!" I sit up to see America and Canada jumping around excitedly in the middle of my bedroom floor. Throwing a pillow at them, I get up. "SANTA CAME LAST NIGHT, THERE'S LIKE A BILLION THOUSAND PRESENTS ALL UNDER THE TREE!" America squeals excitedly. I pull my blue Snuggie on _(A/N: If you get the reference, tell me. If not, don't worry about it) _and go out into the living room. Germany and I spent ALL night wrapping those presents. There's about 100 of them because there's a lot of people living in the house. England is sitting on the floor and staring at the tree. I must admit, it looks pretty amazing. All the lights in the house are off, and since it's 3:00 in the morning, there's no light coming through the windows either. The tree glows brightly with a heavenly yellow light, and the red ornaments seem to sparle like rubies against the green pine. Everyone rushes out of their rooms and sits in front of the tree, super excited to open their presents. Now this is the kind of Christmas I was hoping for.

"Alright, everyone. Take one present each and open it." As soon as they hear the words, everyone snatches something with their name on it and rips it open ferociously. France pulls out a blue shirt with puffy sleeves and ruffles. "this is the most fabulous thing I have ever recieved from anyone excpet myself!" he squeals. America pulls out a Captain America costume, complete with the shield. As soon as he sees it, he zooms into his bedroom to put it on. England gets a really bg pirate's hat, which he puts on his head with a big smile. Canada gets a huge bottle of real maple syrup and a red-and-white sweater for Kumajirou. Prussia sees the shirt that we bought him at WAL-MART (right before the whole fireworks escapade) and laughs, pulling it on. "It's so fitting!" Germany sees that he got a plate of schnitzel and sausages. He licks his lips, and the plate is cleared in somewhere around 2 seconds. Venicciano and Romano get two gigantic (I mean, like, bigger than their heads) plates of pasta, which they eat just as quickly. Russia receives a furry, warm hat. He smiles his adorable little smile and puts it on his head. Charlie sees a large present with her and Hong Kong's names on it. She rips it open, and finds two super-adorable matching kimonos. Aww! As soon as she sees them, she starts freaking out and jumping all over the place, screaming "WE GOT MATCHING KIMONOS YAAAAY!" After that, the whole place falls into chaos. Wrapping flies everywhere as the presents are ripped open. It's like a satanic murder ritual, but for presents.

About 10 minutes later, most of the presents have been ferociously torn apart. I stop everyone. "Okay, the first one to clean all the wrapping is the first one to play with their new presents!" I say. Immediately, everyone scrambles for wrapping paper and ribbons. The entire living room is spotless in a flash, and America puts his new video game in the Xbox. "I win!" he screams as he plops on the floor. Everyone else just picks up their new presents and starts messing around with them. Germany walks over and sits next to me on the couch. "Zis is for you," he says, handing me a small wrapped box. I take it and smile at him. Opening it up, I see that it's a golden barcelet with cute little charms on it. Looking closer, I see that the charms are the flags of everyone who lives in the penthouse. "Aww! Thanks, Ludwig!" I say, giving him a hug attack. He smiles and places one hand on my back. France sees us snuggling, and decides to end it by smacking Germany's hand until he lets go of me. Then, he gives me a present too. I open it up, seeing that it's a beautiful ring with a gold band and pretty sapphires. I put it on my finger and give France a hug attack as well, which he gratefully returns.

Ludwig lets out a small grunt of dissapointment, which Prussia notices. "Oh, Germany! Not happy because your scary little girlfriend is hugging another man? You poor sissy little baby. What are you going to do about it? Are you just going to sit there and cry?" Prussia taunts mercilessly. I hear a loud WUMP and see Germany tackling his brother to the ground. Charlie starts kicking Germany in the side and chanting "Fight, fight, fight, fight!" France pulls me closer to him and wraps his other arm around me protectively. I smile and kiss him on the cheek. Germany sees this and lets out a roar of anger. Poor little Prussia doesn't even have time to blink before Germany slams his head into the ground and knocks him out cold. Everyone else stops what they're doing and stares. ""Whoah, dude! Calm it down! What happened?" America says, but Germany just stomps away into his bedroom.

Charlie laughs until she sees the little lipstick mark on France's cheek, then she starts going off on him. "Oh, so you think that you can be kissed by my big sister without any consequences? It's on now. Come on, you ruffled fruit basket! Stand up!" she screams. I get up and hold her 2 feet above the ground. "PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN PUT ME DOWN PUT ME DOWN!" she yells, but I just stand firm. After a little, she stops screaming. Everyone is laughing. :If you don't stop laughing, I'll-" I put my hand over her mouth. "You won't do anything except go to your room and stay there." She tries to interject, but I just shake my head and put her down. She gives one last glare to France, then stomps off.

I enter Germany's room and see him sitting on his bed, mumbling German curses and something about 'stupid Francis'. I go over to his bed and sit next to him. "Ludwig, what's the matter?" I ask, tenderly rubbing his arm. He looks at me, and I see a small flash of hope in his eyes. It's quickly replaced by jealousy. "It's because I kissed France, isn't it?" I ask. His eyes well up with tears. "Everyone always liked that stupid Francis better zan me. Zey always leave me for him, no matter how hard I try to make zem stay. It's because of what I used to be. I-I killed so many people. It's not even really safe for you to be talking to me. You shouldn't stay here. I'll probably hurt you, just like everyone else. " he says, turning away. Before he can, I just attack him with a hug. He makes a "mmph" noise, his voice muffled by the fact that his face is pressed into a bed.

"Look, Ludwig. I'm not so easy to get rid of. Did you see me slam Prussia in the wall a couple days ago? I'm pretty sure that I can take any emotional trauma you desire to shove on me. And, don't worry. I won't give up on you, as long as you promise never to give up on me," I say, letting him up. He looks at me with a look of slight shock, but before I can say anything else, he leans in and kisses me. A billion thoughts race through my head. _OMIGOSH it's happening again- wait, is he just kissing me because I comforted him- wait, am I really questioning this? Germany's freakin kissing me!_ Suddenly, I hear a completely horrified gasp. I open my eyes just in time to see Charlie throw a shoe at Germany's head. "Charlie!" I scold, while Germany just rubs the side of his head. She makes an attempt to look defiant. "You're not allowed to kiss boys!" she declares, looking rather satisfied at the result of her shoe throwing. I glare at her. "I am allowed to kiss _whosoever_ I choose. And if you interfere with this one more time, I'll make sure that you don't ever get to talk to Hong Kong again," I say menacingly. She backs up. "You can't do that," she says, but it's more of a question. I smirk, and we both know that I can do that perfectly well. SHe grumbles, then walks back into the living room, probably to see Hong Kong.

20 minutes later, the house is restored to its casual chaos. Ludwig and Gilbert are throwing increasingly cruel insults at eachother. Charlie and Hong Kong discuss explosions. Ivan sharpens a knife while Arthur looks on in horror. Alfred is talking about video games to Mattie, who is politely listening and petting Kumajirou. Feli is continually bothering Lovi.( "Big brother, why won't you talk to me?" "Because you're pestering me with stupid questions!) Francis keeps flirting with me and scooting so close to me I'm squished against the arm of the chair. Suddenly, we hear a knock on the door. I get up to answer it.

I open the door and see Hungary standing there with Austria. My eyes widen. "I-uh-umm..." Hungary smiles. "Hello. I am Elizaveta. Is Ludwig here? My Germany-radar sensed him." I turn around, revealing an awed Ludwig. Prussia, however, beats him to the door. "Haiiiii! DID YOU MISS ME?" he says, jumping on front of her. She promptly pulls out her frying pan and smacks him in the face with it. I grin. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," I say, stepping aside to let them in.

Wouldn't it be horrible for me to end this on a cliffhanger?


	13. Chapter 13: Sweet Revenge

_(A/N: OMIGOSH, I AM SO SORRY FOR HOW LONG THIS CHAPTER TOOK. I feel really bad, too. I ended the last chapter on a cliffhanger. Hehehe... *cowers in fear at the angry people outside my window* Oh, and by the way, Charlie gets a short POV in this chapter. I had so many requests for it :D. Without ANY further ado, here's chapter 13: Sweet Revenge.)_

Germany watches in amusement as Prussia runs away from Hungary and her wrathful frying pan. "Vell, at least I don't have to do ze chasing," he says casually. Suddenly, a wild Charlie appears. She attacks Germany from behind, and keeps scratching and biting at him until he flings her at the wall. "VAT IN ZE VORLD VAS ZAT?" he asks, slicking back his now messed-up hair. Charlie grins. "Oh, I just decided square-headed that you needed to be attacked. You potato loving idiot." Germany growls at her, then turns back to whatever magazine he was just reading. However, I hear him mutter quietly, "I'll get revenge. I'll get revenge very, very soon."

POV: Charlie

I get onto the laptop that Arietta bought me for Christmas, deciding to check my grades on the school site. I don't even see that stupid potato man until he's right directly behind me, and I notice his reflection in my screen. "Auugh!" I scream, then I whip around to face him. "Oh, it's you. I thought here was an evil ugly monster coming out of my screen or something," I say, lauhing. He gives me a menacing look. "So, vat are you doing?" the potato asks. "Just checking my grades," I say. "Oh crap, I have an F in Language Arts... Arietta is going to rip my skin off." I notice Germany smirk. "Is she, now? Exactly vat vill she do?" I crinkle my nose. "She'll shriek at me in German, French, Latin, Hungarian, Russian, and THEN in English. She probably won't hold off on swearing, either," I say thoughtfully. An evil look spreads across that square, horrifying face. I shrink as I realize what I just did. "Oh no, you're going to tell her, aren't you?" I ask fearfully. I don't get much of a respnse. "ARIETTA! YOU'RE GOING TO VANT TO SEE YOUR LITTLE SCHWESTER'S GRAAAADES!" Germany yells. I shrink in horror. This is NOT going to end well for me.

POV: Arietta

I run out to the living room. "What do you mean, her grades?" I say. I then turn to look at Charlie, who weakly smiles at me before holding a pillow in front of her face. Germany grins. "She just metnioned to me that she has a failing grade in Language Arts," he says maniacally. The rage builds up in my chest, and I turn to glare at Charlie. "_**Sind Sie geisteskrank? Noten sind wichtig! Was wird Ihr Lehrer sagen? OOH, Jetzt bin ich wirklich verrückt. GUTE IDEE versucht, es vor mir zu verbergen!"**_I scream. And that was just German. About 10 languages later, I stop screaming.**  
**

Everyone stands in the living room, staring at me. "How did you know all our languages?" Austria asks, breaking the silence. I smile. "I can speak a LOT of languages. That was no problem for me. But German is more fun to scream." Germany, Prussia, Austria, and Hungary all nod in agreement. Hong Kong rushes over to Charlie. "Are you okay? DO you need... uh, I don't know... ice cream or something?" he asks, tenderly rubbing her arm. She nods, and they go to the kitchen. Hungary immediately starts babbling about how adorable it is. "OHMYGOSHDIDYOUSEETHATTHEYARESOINLOVETHEY'LLGETMARRIEDANDLIVEHAPPILYEVERAFTERWANTTOLIVEHEREFOREVERANDEVEROMIGOSHICANTBELIEVEITTHATWASADORABLE!" she babbles to Austria, who smiles and nods acceptingly. "Ja, probably," he says. (_A/N: That was Austria's first line in the story. You're welcome.) _Hungary smiles at him, her eyes sparkling, and kisses him on the cheek. I immediately tense up with fangirliness. O, I ship dat :D.

Germany notes my expression and breaks out into a grin. "Let me guess. You ship zat?" I nod and make a small squee sound, at which point he can't even hold in the laughter. We both end up rolling on the floor. Hungary stops her adorableness with Austria. "What are you laughing at?" she asks, and I can hear the anger slowly amounting in her voice. "Oh, nothing" I say, wiping laughter tears from my eyes. "Just an inside joke." She looks at me and Germany, then immediately squees and starts babbling again to Austria. "I FOUND A NEW THING TO SHIP! IT'S ONLY BEEN TWO MINUTES SINCE I FOUND THE LAST ONE!" I grin. "Oh, me and France are kind of a thing too," I say, waving dismissively. Her lip curls in disgust. "He's here too?" she asks. Then, her expression turns to excitement. "More frying pan practice." I give her a look of intense **NO.** She matches it with an evil grin. I've finally found someone with the same insanity as me.

I pull France out from the couch under which he is hiding and wrap my arms around him. "No, you're not going to hit France with a frying pan," I say,smiling as he kisses the top of my head. "This is MY France. MINE." Germany grumbles something about cutting off France's hair, then plops on the couch and opens his laptop. Hungary grumbles something about a stupid nozzle and goes to the kitchen with Austria, probably to make something for dinner. I smile up at France. it's turning out to be a fairly good day. Suddenly, his eyes get a twinkle, and he dips me down and kisses me all dramatically right then and there. Hungary makes a little "squeeeeee!" sound from the kitchen. "That. Was. So. CUTE!" she screams, running over to us. "This is the best place I have EVER lived. Right, Roderich?" she says to Austria, who smiles and kisses her on the cheek.

Charlie runs out, laptop in her hand. "Guys, there's a super-huge New Years Eve dance tomorrow Madison Square Garden with a whole bunch of super-famous people performing!" she squeals. "Can we pleease go, Arietta? Pleeeeeease?" Her eyes twinkle like stars. Everyone freezes. Germany and France both give me a tentative look, though France looks a little more excited than Germany. I see their faces, and take a deep breath. "Okay," I decide. Hungary and Charlie immediately start jumping around excitedly, and France joins them. "Yay,yay, yay!" Germany chuckles and just turns his head back to the computer. "Vell, it does sound nice," I hear him whisper to himself.

Everyone walks outside and to the parking garage so that we can buy dresses and suts and stuff. Hungary has a minivan, and everyone piles in. There's a LOT of people, though, so I end up sitting on Germany and France's laps. They don't seem to mind. Especially France. America starts laughing hysterically, because Hong Kong is forced to sit on Iggy's lap. "HAHAHAHAHA, dude!" Iggy and Hong Kong both stick their tongues out at him. I look up int the front seat, and Austria and Hungary are holding hands (aww!). France grabs my hand. "You're beautiful, you know," he whispers to me. Germany sees this, and yanks me off of France's lap. I fall onto him as he smiles and smacks France in the face. They start pulling me back and forth from one lap to another, until I end up perfectly in the middle of them. "OKAY, I'M NOT A SOLID GOLD DONUT OR ANYTHING. PRETTY SURE YOU TWO CAN SHARE ME FOR NOW," I say loudly, breaking it apart.

We arrive at JCPenney and pile out of the car, racing towards the store. The girls and boys split up at the door. I see a floor length coral ballgown with ruffles that spill over from the waist hanging on a rack at the front of the women's section. "Eep!" I say, rushing over to it. "This is really cute." Hungary nods as she finds a similar one in powder-blue, and Charlie comes back with an emerald-green dress in her size. "Alright, let's go check on the guys," I say, and we all walk over to the tuxedo section. There, Austria has already picked out his suit and is trying to wrestle Prussia into his. America has his military jacket over his tuxedo, despite England and Canadas' attempts to get it off. Russia refuses to remove his scarf and makes an extremely frightening face at anyone who dares take a step toward him. Germany is wrinkling his nose at the powder-blue suit that France picked, Feli and Lovi are looking AMAZING in their suits, and Hong Kong is getting fitted with his. 10 minutes later, we all walk out of the store with our outfits.


	14. Chapter 14: An Enchanted Evening

(A/N:_ Thank you guys SO much for the positive reviews I've been getting! I really, really appreciate them. There's nothing that makes me happier than to go online and see that I've gotten new reviews! Okay, except for Olivia, France, Poland, Germany and ice cream. Those always make me happier than reviews. But reviews are definitely second on the list! By the way, don't forget to vote TEAM FRANCE or TEAM GERMANY! Email it to nampagirl . In this chapter, there's a lot of France romance. A LOT. Anyways, stay JaegerbomBASTIC! Here's Chapter 14: A Magical Evening.)_

"I AM SO NOT GETTING IN ZAT SUIT!" Prussia screams as Hungary wrestles him into the tuxedo. I smile, peeking out from behind my doorway. Austria is the last country to come out of his room, looking totally gorgeous in his tuxedo. "You know, Gilbert, it would be a lot less wrinkled if we didn't have to hog-tie you before getting you in the tuxedo," he says matter-of-factly. Hungary giggles and nods enthusiastically, straightning Prussia's tie. Charlie runs up to my doorway with a pair of coral bejeweled stilleto heels. "These are to make up for my bad grades," she says, handing them through the crack in my doorway. "If it makes it better, I haven't hurt Francey-pants even once today." I laugh, and kiss her forehead before slipping back into my room to make some last-minute touches on my updo.

A few minutes later, I hear a knock at my door. "Arietta, _ma cherie__, _come out so that I can see how fabulous you look," France calls through my door softly. I step out, my long skirt swirling as I move, and his jaw drops. "You look... _stunning_." he says, finally finding the right words. He then wraps an arm around my waist, and we walk out into the living room.

As soon as we enter, everyone falls silent. Even America is speechless. I break the silence, saying "Looks like it's time to go, then!" Everyone nods, and we all go down to the parking garage. France keeps an arm around me at all times, his arm fitting perfectly around the curve of my waist His powder-blue suit actually matches with my coral ballgown quite well, in a sunny-pastel way. We all squeeze into Hungary's minivan and start driving to Madison Square Garden. France continually whispers romantic things in my ear, telling me how amazing I look. My cheeks redden fiercely, because I've never been paid so much attention to. About 30 minutes later, we arrive. France immediately opens my door for me, and Russia offers me one of the hanging ends of his scarf. "You look cold," he says, smiling adorably at me. He then adds a little more quietly, "You look pretty, too." (A/N: _This next chapter is all poetic and romantical. Be warned.)_

We walk into the ballroom, and everyone except Charlie, America, and me looks awed. The bright lights and beautiful room seems to stun all the other countries. Finally, the music starts playing. France immediately grabs me and pulls me on the dance floor. We start dancing, and it's like a spell is cast on us. Everyone else seems to disappear, and it's just us two. We execute each step perfectly, floating through the dance as if we're not touching the floor. His beautiful eyes stare directly into mine as he pulls me closer. The music changes, but we don't even notice. I realize exactly how beautiful he is. His golden hair shimmers under the light, and his twinkling eyes appear to be almost violet. I am enchanted by every move, but not once do I lose my footing. At the end of the song, he dips me down and kisses me. I kiss him back, trying to make this last as long as I possibly can.(A/N: _Alright, the romanticalness is over.)_

After 10 songs, we finally drift out of our trance. Everyone seems to be looking at us. Germany has stopped drinking and stares at me, his mouth frozen in awe. France seems surprised, noticing that there are actually other people in the room. "That was the most enchantingly beautiful thing I have ever experienced," he whispers in my ear as we glide back to the sidelines. Charlie runs over. "What was that? I mean, it was like magic had encircled you two." I look at France, who gives me such a beautiful smile that I just about faint right then and there. "_Ma cherie_, you are truly enchanting," he says. I look at his eyes, and I can tell he's speaking genuinely.

Suddenly, _Prussia _grabs my hand and pulls me away. Germany and France both attempt to stop him, but he's too quick. He pulls me off to a sideline, then starts eyeing me critically. "Ja, maybe you _are_ as hot as Ludvig vispers in his sleep," he says, smirking. He takes a step towards me, making the two of us really uncomfortably close. Suddenly, I recall EXACTLY why he's in the Bad Touch Trio. Thankfully, France appears to rescue me. He gives a snarl to Prussia, then takes my face in his hands. "Are you okay? What did he do to you? Do I have to kill him?" he asks worriedly. I shake my head, extremely grateful that he's appeared. "Prussia didn't do anything to me. Not that he wouldn't have tried, if you hadn't appeared right then." France glares at Prussia again, then leads me outside to safety, followed by everyone else.

We enter the penthouse again, and I collapse onto the couch. I didn't realize it when I was enchanted by Francis, but I had danced a LOT that night. France doesn't even make it to the couch, he just collapses onto the living room floor. I realize that Francis and I are the only ones who didn't drink at the ball. Hungary and Austria stumble in drunkenly, laughing and tripping over their own feet. They, too, collapse as soon as they enter the living room. England is so drunk that he's singing in broken Russian. This freaks Russia out considerably, so he hits England with a pipe before collapsing himself. I reach my hand down and brush France's cheek. I hear him let out a small noise of happiness, then I fall asleep immediately.

-NEXT MORNING-

I awake to a light kiss on the cheek. Looking up, I see France's beautiful face hanging a few inches over mine. "Good morning, _ma cherie. _None of the others are out of their exhausted sleep yet. Do you want to make breakfast with me?" he says, pulling me up. I nod and smile. "Can we make crepes?" I say, rubbing my eyes. He laughs lightly. "Of course. But, you might want to change out of your ballgown," he says with a teasing smile. I look down, and see that my coral ballgown is still on, albeit a little crumpled. "Alright, but only if we can make the crepes." He laughs and nods, sending me off to my room.

I pull on a pretty violet shirt and a red plaid mini skirt that shimmers when I move. Brushing my hair and tying it up with a ribbon, I check myself in the mirror. _Ooh, that looks good._ Stepping outside my room, I hear France softly humming as he gets ingredients. I walk into the kitchen, carefully avoiding the sleeping Germans on my hallway floor. Francis turns and looks at me, grinning at my outfit. "Nice choice," he says, kissing my cheek again. I smile and turn the stove on.

10 minutes later, Iggy is the first to wake up. "Unhhhhhh. I am never drinking again," he moans, rubbing his head. I hurry over and give him some aspirin and a glass of water. "Thanks," he mumbles, downing it immediately. I pull him to his feet. "Come on, let's get you into your bed." He nods, and I pull him to the bedroom. Yawning as I tuck him in, he mumbles "Can I at least get a goodnight kiss?" Rolling my eyes, I kiss him on the forehead and hand him his Flying Mint Bunny pillow.

I walk back out, and France is setting the table, still humming to himself. "Alright, he's in bed and having a terrible hangover," I say, putting silverware by all the plates. France laughs a little. "Considering how much he drank last night, I'm not surprised." I smile and put a vase full of orchids in the middle of the table. "I realized last night that we didn't drink at all. We didn't even have time to, we danced for almost the entire evening." He looks thoughtful for a moment. "You're right. I suppose we were just so amazing we didn't need any drinks." He smiles dazzlingly at me, and my spirits lift even more.

"Muuuuuurf," Prussia moans as I wake him up. "Nooooo, 5 more minutes." I lean down and start to whisper threateningly in his ear. His eyes widen, and he's up immediately. "Good. I know that you don't have a hangover, you drink way too much for hangovers. Go sit at the table, breakfast is ready," I say with an air of authority. He looks down at his brother, who passed out right next to him, with a maniacal grin slowly spreading across his face. I realize exactly what he's about to do. "No. Don't kick your brother. Go sit at the table or you won't get fed." He slumps, then walks over and heavily sits in the chair.

10 minutes of dragging people to their bedrooms later, we can finally eat. Germany, Prussia, Charlie, Hong Kong, France, and I all sit at the table, being the only ones who aren't half dead from a hangover. Germany happily eats while Prussia just repeatedly throws fruit at Charlie and Hong Kong. "Mmmm, these are really good. Who made them?" Charlie asks. France and I look at eachother, but don't say anything. She looks at the two of us and realizes what happened. "Did you two spend the entire morning together while we were passed out on the floor?" she asks, but she knows the answer. A glint of rage flashes in her eyes, but she doesn't say anything. Suddenly, America comes running out form his bedroom. "I smell food. Whoah, these are like thin little pancakes. Awesome! Ughhhhhhh, my head hurts," he babbles before passing out on the floor. I laugh, then get Germany's help to drag America back to his room. The six of us spend the entire day watching TV, laughing, and taking care of the others.


	15. Chapter 15: Austria's Beautiful Butt

(A/N: _So, what did you think? Is it magical enough for you? I have to say, I really enjoyed writing it. It's obvious that I put a lot of France romance, but we needed some. I had been kind of lacking on that. Anyway, this chapter involves sexy nurse uniforms, romantic movie/snuggle time, and boot camp. Alright, here's chapter 15: Military Camp and Austria's Beautiful Butt.)_

The next morning, I wake up with an extreme fever. Stumbling to my bathroom, I check my temperature and see that it says 101 degrees. Oh, no. How can I be sick? I have more than 10 people in this house to take care of, and I have no idea how I'm going to do that if I have to lay in bed all day. I groan, feeling a little dizzy, then stumble back to my bed. This probably won't be a fun day for me.

A knock comes at my door, and France pokes his head in. "Arietta? Are you okay?" I sit up, smiling at him. "I have a flu, so I'm not sure if I can take care of everyone..." He rushes to my bedside and immediately starts tucking me in and fluffing my pillow. "Don't worry, _ma cherie. _I will take complete care of you today, and I'm sure that Germany can control the place for a day, so long as he doesn't attempt to make it into a military boot camp. Nothing to worry about. Here, I will make you breakfast and get some ice cream for you. You just stay there..." he says, rushing off to the kitchen. I smile and pull the blanket over my arms.

Charlie runs in. "Arietta! Are you okay? Francey pants told me that you were sick and that Commander Crazy would have to watch us all today. I don't want that potato to be in charge. Can I be in charge instead?" she asks, kneeling by my bed. I smile. "I'm sorry, but I'm not planning on letting the house get blown up today. Do what Germany asks you, and don't be stupid. Okay?" She nods and walks out, passing France as she goes through the door. "Frog," she mumbles at him as they pass each other.

He sets a plate full of crepes on my lap, smiling at me. "Your face is red," I point out to him. He cocks his head a little. "It is? Hmm." I pull out a thermometer and put it in his mouth. When it beeps, I pull it out and see that it says 102. "Francis. You have a fever," I say. Dread spreads across his face. "W-what? No. No..." I stop him. "It's worse than mine. You're going to have to be taken care of too." He looks at me wearily, then suddenly brightens up. Before I can ask him why, he kisses me.

_Wait, what? _I think._ Why is he kissing me? Did I- oh. Right. Now that he's sick too, there's no reason for him not to kiss me. _He pulls away, much more cheery than he was 2 minutes ago. "I guess being sick won't be too terrible." He dances away and to his bedroom, probably getting his blankets or something. 3 minutes later, he comes back in with a stack of romantic comedies, two bowls of ice cream, and his laptop. I scoot over, and he gets in my bed, sitting next to me. "This will be fun," he says, putting the ice cream down. Then, he starts to tickle me. _Oh__ no. _

Germany walks in to me laughing and screaming for mercy and France relentlessly tickling me. His eyes widen. "Francis, _vat in ze vorld are you doing?_" he asks stops tickle-attacking me and looks at him. "Just making her feel better," he says, straightening. I collapse, panting for air. "It was just tickling, Ludwig. _Lighten_ _up." _I say, straightening myself on the bed again. He nods. "Yes, vell, Charlie just asked me if she could have a Twinkie. But Twinkies are bad for you. But I don't know what to do," he says, looking at me helplessly. I grin. "Turn this into a military boot camp. No food until mealtime, no complaints, no unhealthy snacks," I say, smiling. He grins, now having exact;y what he wanted: permission to create structure and order. "But vat if she doesn't listen to me?" he asks, turning around. "Tell her that I'll give her the punishment if she doesn't behave. She'll understand what you mean." He grins, then leaves the room.

France looks over at me, a smile slowly spreading across his face. "Romantic movie/snuggle time?" he asks, holding up the laptop and a DVD. I grin. "Definitely." He wraps one arm around me, then opens up his laptop. Before he can put the movie in, though, his Facebook pops up. The first notification is one from Hungary: "I never noticed exactly how beautiful my Austria's butt is. 3" France and I look at each other, then burst out laughing. He comments on it, saying: "Oh, I definitely agree on that." I start laughing even harder, then open up my laptop and like it.

Suddenly, a wild Hungary appears. "Oh, hello, Elizaveta. So, tell me, is Austria's butt looking beautiful today?" France laughs. Her cheeks redden but she stands her ground. "Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. " France and I burst out laughing, then Austria walks in as well. "Oh, my butt is beautiful? I never really noticed," he says, smirking. Hungary reddens even more. "I-...umm... you weren't supposed to see that," she says, shrinking a little from embarrassment. We all laugh. Hungary stands up defensively. "It's not like it was a lie," she says, straightening her back and trying to gather her dignity. This just makes us laugh harder.

Hungary finally gets to the point. "Look, aside from Roderich's posterior, I needed to ask you something. Did you tell Ludwig that he could turn this place into a military camp? Because he's making everyone wear these camouflage uniforms, which he apparently already had. In all of our exact sizes. No joke, I even saw him hiding one labeled "Arietta" behind his back. It was evidently a sexy nurse uniform..." she says, blushing again. France's eyes light up. "I want to see that uniform," he says, not even joking. I hit him with a pillow. "Yes," I say, ignoring France's laugh behind me," I said that he could turn it into a boot camp while Francis and I are sick." She frowns. "What did you do that for? He's making Prussia do push-ups while Charlie is in a cage made of cardboard. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the wisest decision to leave him in charge." I just smile. "It's okay. Just humor him for today and do what he says." She nods, then turns to leave the room. "Enjoy Austria's butt!" I call out as they leave.


	16. Chapter 16: The Punishment

(A/N: _I hope you enjoyed the information on Austria's butt. It was a true moment of inspirational glory. Any questions, maybe about exactly WHAT __the punishment__ is? Don't worry. It will be revealed to you here. Chapter 16: The Punishment.)_

The next day, France and I are back to our usual selves. I don't really feel like taking care of everyone, though. "Germany, it's time for Admiral Arietta to see what you've done with the place. You get to run Penthouse Boot Camp again today," I say to Ludwig, who grins brilliantly at me. He pulls out a military uniform for France, and... an extremely short and low-cut nurse's dress for me. I'm about to protest, but he says "If you don't put it on, I vill force your body into it." He looks dead serious. "Alright, alright," I say, taking the dress and marching into my room. When I get it on and look in the mirror, I start laughing. I look like someone that would appear in France's best dreams.

I walk out into the living room, and France is the first one to see me. He lets out a small shriek of happiness, then runs over to me and gives me an EXTREMELY tight hug. "_That is the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen! You look so perfect!" _he says in a voice I've only heard him use a couple of times. Once I pry France's hands off of me, Germany sees me and drops the plate he's holding. He looks as if he's trying to say something, but nothing is coming out of his mouth except a tiny bit of drool. Prussia walks in, yawning, but freezes as soon as he sees what I'm wearing. "I- what in ze... Ludvig, vat on earth happened to Arietta?" he stammers, staring at me.

My face is redder than a tomato. "Okay, guys. This is pretty much exactly why I DID NOT want to wear the uniform," I say, getting a broom to sweep up the shards of shattered plate everywhere. France follows after me, just staring. I turn around and look at him. "Okay, mister, that's it. I believe you've forgotten exactly who's in charge today. Ludwig?" I say, looking at Germany. He gets the message and immediately starts barking orders at Prussia and France. "Lieutenant Francis! Go und sweep up zat glass! Lieutenant Gilbert! Stop staring at ze medical assistant and CHANGE INTO YOUR UNIFORM!" he shrieks. Both of them immediately salute and follow his orders. France takes the broom from me, but lingers just a moment to stare. I narrow my eyes and gesture towards Germany, so he hurries away. This is working well for me.

Charlie, Hungary, Austria, Russia, England, America, Canada, the Italy Brothers, and Hong Kong all file out in a perfect line wearing military uniforms. They all stop in their tracks when they see me. "OH MY SWEET BABY MUFFINS WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED TO MY SISTER?" Charlie asks Germany. He smirks. "She's ze medical assistant at Camp Penthouse," he says. England starts stammering intelligent things like "Bu... She... I... What?" I curl my upper lip in a sneer, then bend down to pick up a piece of paper that's drifted to the floor. Bad idea. France's nose starts bleeding , Prussia makes wolf calls, and all the other countries except Hungary start to drool. Well, not Austria, but he looks very startled. Hungary smacks Prussia angrily with a frying pan and runs over to me. "How on earth did Ludwig convince you to wear that?" she asks me, growling at anyone who dares take a step nearer. "He told me that if I didn't put it on, he would pin me down and force my body into it," I say, smirking. She grimaces. "Yeah, I suppose putting it on by yourself is a little better."

A few minutes later, Germany manages to get everyone to actually stand at attention. "Alright, soldiers. Never mind ze medical assistant. EVERYONE GIVE ME 50 PUSH UPS NOW! _SCHNELL!_" Everyone gets on the floor and immediately starts doing push-ups. As Charlie gets up off the floor, I hear her mumble "He's turning this into a concentration camp." Ohhhhhh, that did it. I immediately march straight over and yank her closer to me. "**_What did you_** _**say?"**_I ask in a deadly tone. She gulps. "Um, no-nothing, Arietta." That doesn't do it. "I know what you said. This is SO much more serious than disobedience. This will merit _**the**** punishment."**_

Her face immediately falls in fear. "N-not the p-p-p-punishment," she stammers. I nod, and she screams. Charlie breaks free from my grasp and runs at full speed. "Wow, She's fast," England states. I smirk. "Wait for it," I say. Sure enough, she starts slowing down and panting. "Her speed may be excellent," I say, picking up my exhausted sister, "but her endurance isn't worth crap." He smiles, but then looks confused. "Wait a minute. What's the punishment?" I suddenly frown again. "Oh, it's something you do NOT want to know about. Ever. Sadly, you'll find out soon enough."

Charlie looks at me in horror. "Wait... you're going to make me suffer _**the punishment**_... IN FRONT OF THEM?" I shake my head and glare at her. "I warned you, and yet..." I let my voice trail off. She gets paralyzed in fear. "Don't do this to me.. I'll clean the penthouse for a year! I'll," she gulps, "I'll be nice to Germany and France for the rest of my life! Please..." I just give her a dissapointed look. "I saw so much potential in you, too. I guess I'll just have to go get another one." I grab her by the collar, and drag her to a locked room that nobody had seemed to notice before. France makes a movement to follow me, but I stare at him intensely. "If you want to not be scarred the rest of your life, I would suggest you don't make another movement." Then, I drag her into the room and lock the door behind me.


	17. Chapter 17: Bloodstained Glory

(A/N: _So, what do you think? Are you enjoying the fact that this got very creepypasta-esque? MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHA! Okay, don't worry. You'll see what happens now. This chapter is short, but a whole ton of fun, because Olivia's writing this part with me!)_

We hear muffled voices from outside, worrying about exactly _what_'s going to happen to Charlie. As soon as we hear them all get back to push-ups in the living room, I turn and grin at Charlie, who returns it fully. "THis is going to be so fun!" she squeals as I flick the light on. There's a whole ton of costumes and stage makeup inside. She runs over to a large mirror and starts putting a whole bunch of pale face powder in as I pick out a tattered and bloodstained version of her current outfit from the rack.

"Um, Arietta, I need a little help with the makeup," Charlie says. I walk over and put fake blood all over her face, then make her entire face look...well...dead. "There," I say. "Now put this bloodstained outfit on, you have to look completely dead." She nods and goes behind the rack to change. "Oh, make sure to scream loudly too," I say. She proceeds to scream as if someone's skinning her alive. I grin.

Two minutes later, all of the countries have gathered outside the door. "Um, Arietta? Vat in ze vorld are you _doing?_" Germany calls. I laugh maniacally. "Nothing, nothing at all." I then add in a deadly voice,"**Don't try to get involved."** I hear Russia evilly laugh outside the door, and The Italy Twins start actually crying. "Can I help?" Russia says outside, which makes everyone else scream in horror. I try very hard not to laugh. "No, it's okay. I have _everything I need." _

I walk out of the room, but Charlie is waiting just inside. "Okay, it's all finished," I say happily, then I walk away whistling. Everyone peeks in, but there's obviously nothing to see. The room has no blood inside, the makeup and clothing has been hidden inside secret closets, and lots of clean swords hang on the wall. Hong Kong looks in, then immediately runs out with tears streaming down his face. "NO!" he cries, then he runs into the room he shares with England and locks the door, despite England's attempts to coax him out. I smile. It's all going well, so far.

I just enter my bedroom. "Guys, I'm going to take a quick shower!" I call, shutting my door. I then flick on my laptop and observe the security cameras in our penthouse. Charlie, dressed in her costume, slowly walks out with a scary expression on her face. France screams and faints, as does Veniciano. "**Germany?" **she asks in an extremely scary voice. _"_**I want to play with you."** Hong Kong then proceeds to come out, his face pale white and his eyes completely blood red. He turns to England. **"Yes. We want to play. Won't you play with us?"** He cocks his head and smiles VERY creepily. I grin. In a few minutes, it'll be my turn to come out.

3 minutes later, I do a last check in the mirror. My hair is up in a bun with a veil covering it, and I'm wearing a tattered and bloodstained wedding dress. My emerald green eyes shine, and I notice that I actually look beautiful, in a dark way. I watch as America(who is also in on this) flicks off the lights and sneaks over to my door. He quietly knocks three times, then I hear him slip away. I walk out, and he turns a red light on in the living room. Half of the countries are crying or fainted, while the others just look extremely scared. Except for Russia, who looks very pleased. I walk out, my veil fluttering behind me, and stand right in front of Germany. He looks absolutely shocked. "**Hello, Ludwig. Wouldn't you like to come spend some time with me? We can be together forever, you know. Just you and me."** Hong Kong walks to England and sits on his lap. **"Hello, Daddy."** Iggy lets out a small meep of terror. Hong Kong cocks his head. **"What's the matter? Isn't that what you always wanted me to call you, Daddy?"** I proceed to get closer to Germany, until I'm almost on top of him and my face is directly in his. **"You look scared, Ludwig. Don't be scared. The place I'm taking you isn't that bad, after a few thousand years."** I then pull out my hand, which is covered in fake blood. America takes that as his cue, and flips a switch on the speaker. Russia's "kolkolkol" noise comes on over the surround sound. Even Germany lets out a yell of terror, while Russia just laughs gleefully. The lights come back to normal, and Charlie, Hong Kong, AMerica and I are all rolling around and laughing hysterically. "You should have seen your faces!" we all scream, Hong Kong and Charlie in Cantonese, and America and I in English. Russia is laughing his butt off, while France has just barely revived from fainting. Germany fills him in quickly. Finally, we all take a bow. "And that was _**THE**_**_ PUNISMENT!"_**


	18. Chapter 18: Hermano Alessandro

(A/N: _Alright! What did you think of the punishment? It took some serious thought, but I pulled it. And it worked! *Mwah* Even if it was short. This one is longer than ANY other one that I've made, so I hope you love it. I speak Italian, and we introduce my magical uncle! Anyway, here's our next chapter: Hermano Alessandro..)_

I wake up the next morning with Germany sitting on my bedroom couch and eating an apple. "I- uh, what are you doing in here?" I ask, sitting up. He looks at me. "Oh, you're avake. Vell, I figured it vould be the only time I could spend vith you before-" he stars, but he is interrupted by a wild Prussia coming in and tackling him to the floor. Germany kicks his brother away. "Before that happened," he finishes, slicking back his hair. I stand up and walk to Prussia, picking him up off the floor. "You can't tackle your brother if you don't expect to be launched off of him," I say to Prussia as he rubs his head._  
_

I drag both of the brothers out to the living room, where Alfred and Iggy are wrestling on the floor. I stop for just a moment, and Ludwig and Gilbert both take the opportunity to leave my grip and start their own wrestling match again. I roll my eyes and go to the kitchen to start breakfast. "What do you guys want for breakfast?" I call out to the chaos. "PANCAKES!" Alfred yells before Arthur slams his head into the ground, yelling "SCONES!" I hear something about potatoes from the wrestling bundle of Ludwig and Gilbert on the floor, but not much else.

France comes out, dressed in nothing but a pair of shorts. As soon as he sees the mess of people on the floor, he just makes a disgusted face and walks over to the kitchen. "Good morning, _ma cherie,_" he says, wrapping his arms around me from behind and kissing the top of my head. I blush and turn around, kissing him on the cheek. "Good morning. I see you're dressed... _fully_." He looks down at his shorts, then just smiles. "Yes, I unusually didn't feel like getting all fancy today. This is the only place we'll be going, yes?" I nod and pop a blackberry into his mouth. He smiles and turns to see that Charlie is standing in the dining room and staring at him.

"Uh, **why are you standing there shirtless while my sister feeds you fruit?**" she asks him accusingly. France smirks. "Oh, please. I'm absolutely positive that you've heard of me doing more scandalous things than _that,_" he says, waving a hand dismissively. My face automatically goes bright red in a blush, and Charlie looks furious. "Are you hinting that-" she starts, but I step in. "No. No. that didn't happen, nor will it probably happen. Calm yourself." Charlie looks a little satisfied, but France just pouts at me and goes back to watching the wrestling match on the floor with a disgusted face.

Austria walks out, wearing jeans and a white t-shirt (I know, bit of a shocker). France gets a little glimmer in his eyes, and I can tell exactly what he's thinking, but I just dismiss it. Besides, Austria is rarely in the same room as France unless... I realize I thought too soon when Hungary comes out 3 seconds after Austria, yawning but holding her frying pan all the same. I chuckle, then finish cooking all the various food requests. Setting the table (with Hungary's help), I smile at Austria and just think of how impossible it will be to clean the living room once the murder-fest has stopped. I pick up a large bullhorn that I bough yesterday and turn it on. "ALRIGHT, STOP THE WRESTLING MATCH AND COME GET YOUR FOOD!" Immediately, America and Prussia are up and at the table, while Germany and England stagger off the floor. I grimace at the bloodstain on the carpet (that will be very had to get off) and give England an ice pack for his bruised head, sighing. This will be a long day of playing Nurse Arietta again.

Sure enough, when the three Germanic countries are finished arguing and we've cleared the table, everyone who was in the living room brawl starts complaining. I set up some gurneys (our uncle, who is a doctor, treats our injuries in the penthouse because Charlie and I are both deathly afraid of hospitals after dad died) in the living room and order the four countries to lay down. Germany refuses to do so until I agree to put on the stupid nurse outfit. Grumbling, I walk out in my full skimpy nurse outfit (complete with a little white hat) and glare at Germany, ignoring Prussia's wolf calls. Then, France comes up to me with a tissue over his nose. "My nose started bleeding for VERY unexpected reasons," he says, barely managing to talk and staring somewhere that doesn't seem to be my face. I point at the couch, and he willingly lays down on it. As I put a pillow under his head, his nose starts bleeding even more. I roll my eyes and get him another box of tissues.

Tending to Germany's wounds as he can't stop breaking out in grins despite the pain, I hear Prussia say "My awesome nose just started awesomely bleeding!" I roll my eyes and walk over to him. "Heeey!" he says, blood trickling out of his nose. "Care to explain to me exactly how you got a nosebleed?" I ask, dabbing at his nose with a tissue. He narrows his eyes and grins. "I know you're not so innocent that you don't know why members of The Bad Touch Trio get nosebleeds," he says, making a quick gesture at France, who nods vigorously.

"I know," I say, ignoring Hungary and Charlies' horrified gasps as they enter and see what I'm wearing, "But I enjoy being able to deny it until one of them actually tells me." Prussia and France both start laughing annoyingly. "I can think of at least four reasons!" France calls from the couch. Germany sits up out of his bed, but looks at my incredibly angry face and lays back down, barely containing his laughter. "I'm coming after you next," I mutter to him darkly as I walk to America. He smiles to see me, his manner thankfully not affected by my outfit. "Oh, don't listen to them," he says as I clean his arms, "that's totally not awesome of them to talk about you like that." I smile and hug him. "You're a hero," I whisper in his ear. He grins brightly and salutes me.

I stride over to the place where England lays, my mood greatly improved. He smiles at me, but I can tell he's in pain. I frown and gently poke one of his ribs, watching him wince in pain as I touch it. "Charlie! Go call Hermano Alessandro. He'll know what to do with a broken rib," I call to Charlie. She nods and runs to the phone. "Hi, Uncle Alessandro!" she says brightly. "Um, we have a whole bunch of c- I mean, _friends_ here with us and our friend Arthur has a broken rib." As she puts it on speaker, I hear my uncle's singsong voice come over the phone. "_Yes, Charlie. Tell me, could you put your big sister on the phone?" _

I walk over and take it from Charlie, turning off the speaker. "_**Ciao, Hermano Alessandro! V**__**ole**_**vi_ parlare con me?"_** I say in my perfect Italian, which makes Lovi and Feli both run from their bedroom and sit on the couch watching me excitedly. _**"Si**__**. Il mio amico Arthur ha una costola rotta."**_ Feli and Lovi both start excitedly talking. "Why didn't you tell us you knew our language?" Lovino says happily. I hear Germany give a disgusted noise from his bed. I listen to my uncle ask just how many people are living with us. I take a minute to count. Hmm, let's see, Russia, Germany, France, Prussia, England, Canada, Lovi, Feli, Austria, Hungary, and Hong Kong. **_"Altro che noi, ci sono ... 11 persone,"_** I whisper quietly into the phone. I hear quiet on the other line, then I put it on speaker again. _"11 people? How many girls?" _I laugh a little. **_"_C'è solo una, diversa da me e Charli****_e_. Gli altri 10, ho paura, sono tutti maschi."** He starts laughing loudly. "_Oh, __**la mia nipotina,**I can't even say how much trouble you'd be in with your mother. Alright, I'll be up in 5 minutes to help your friend Arthur. _ " I smile as I hang up the phone.

Every single one of the countries has stopped speaking and is staring at me in awe. "What?" I ask, putting the phone down. Feli immediately jumps up and gives me an extremely tight hug. "Yay! Now that we know it, you, me, and Lovi can all have fun parties where we don't speak English and we eat pasta!" he says excitedly. Even Lovi looks happy. As I walk into my room to put on something that doesn't appear to have come out of an adult movie, France's nosebleed has accelerated greatly. I put two more boxes of tissue on the couch as I walk past him, whistling a happy tune.

I walk out of my room with my sweatshirt of the Italian flag and my red shorts. Feli starts jumping around happily, while Lovi just smiles and says "Finally, somebody who really knows how to dress." I wink at him playfully and we laugh. Then, a knock comes at the penthouse door. "Where are my favorite nieces?" calls a singsong voice from the other end of the door. Charlie and I race to answer it as France and Prussia make an attempt to clean up their bleeding noses. Opening the door, we see a 29-year-old with messy dark hair and the brightest smile the world has ever known. " Hermano Alessandro!" I squeal gleefully, giving him a tight hug. Charlie runs around and leaps on his back, fighting her way until she reaches his shoulders.

Thankfully, it's impossible to see the living room from the front door until you leave the front room, so I stop him before he enters the pandemonium. "Just to warn you, there are 11 people from ALL over Europe in there, two of which are Italian like us. Arthur is the one by the TV with huge eyebrows and a British accent. The twins with the red messy hair are Feliciano and Lovino Vargas, you'll probably get along okay. Steer clear of the others." He nods, and I walk him into the living room.

Hermano Alessandro's jaw drops. Immediately, Feli and Lovi are hopping around excitedly, not being able to take the extreme excitement. "HI! I'm Feliciano, but you can call me Feli, and this is my brother Lovino, but you probably shouldn't call him Lovi or he'll bite you," Feli says, shaking his hand vigorously and pointing at his brother. My uncle starts laughing. "Hi. I'm Alessandro, but you can call me Hermano." Feli's face lights up even more and he squeals excitedly.

"Alright. Let's get you to Arthur and the broken rib." I walk my favorite uncle to Iggy, who lays on the bed with a wince. Immediately, my hermano's face gets serious. "Can you tell me where the pain is?" he asks, his 5 years of medical schooling starting to kick in. Iggy weakly points to the area just under his left lung. My uncle frowns and gently touches the area, but stops when he hears Arthur's loud cry of pain. "Ay. That's bad. However, I'm guessing the reason that Arietta called me was because she has no intention of letting you come to a hospital?" Iggy nods and winces again. Before my uncle even asks for it, I pull the IV of painkiller that he brought along with him (yes, my uncle carries hospital equipment around. Don't judge) and hand it to him. "Thank you," he says, turning to Iggy. "This will probably sting a little." He pokes the needle into Iggy, who lets out a small "eep" of pain.

Alfred can't take it any longer and walks over to Iggy's gurney, putting a hand on the arm that isn't injected. I see tears come to America's eyes. "You'll be okay, right?" he asks, and I remember their super-sad and adorable brotherly history. England forces a smile. "Yeah, Alfred. I'll be fine." Hermano Alessandro doesn't look up, but a tear drops out of his eye as he removes a small tool from his bag. "That reminds me of an anime that Arietta and I watched once," he says. Everybody immediately freezes, and the same thought is running through our heads: _Does he know? Is it possible for him to know? What if he figures it out?_ However, my uncle just shakes his head. "Doesn't matter." Everyone immediately relaxes, and I just go over to France and start cleaning off his face, because his nose has finally stopped bleeding.


	19. Chapter 19: Lovely Nights in Italy

(A/N: _Hi! I hope you like my magical imaginary uncle whose appearance may or may not be based slightly on Spain. And yes, I am PERFECTLY aware that "Hermano" means big brother. There's a reason I'm calling my beautiful imaginary uncle that. Anyway, do you guys think I should bring China into the story, or are there too many countries already? Meh. Anyway, here's Chapter 19: Lovely Nights in Italy. )_

A few hours later, Iggy has finally woken up. Alfred is asleep on the couch (it's 11:00 p.m.) and everyone else has either gone to bed or is laying on their little hospital beds. Charlie is sleeping on the floor in front of the couch where Feli, Lovi, Hermano Alessandro, and I. Feli makes a movement as if to try and poke her, but I stop him. "Unless you want to lose a hand, I wouldn't suggest that," Hermano Alessandro chuckles. Feli just snaps his hand back.

"So, Hermano Alessandro, where were you born?" Romano asks, looking at my uncle with appreciation. Hermano Alessandro grins. "I was born in Naples, along with my sister. Such fun we would have, strolling the streets and swimming every evening. When my older sister got married to some Welsh man and moved to Rome, everyone was saddened. However, when Arietta was born, it was like a blessing unto our family. Such an angel," he reminisces, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I grin and blush. "Yes, it was amazing. When I was 3, we moved back to Naples and my favorite place was ALWAYS Hermano Alessandro's house. It had a guest bedroom with a view of the gorgeous sea, and I spent more time there than I did at my own house," I say, remembering the gorgeous night sky sprinkled with stars as I had seen from the window.

"Then, a few years later, it all changed. Daddy decided we should up and move to Wales so that he could see his parents. At first, mom didn't want to, but she agreed. She was already pregnant with Charlie by then. About 7 months later, once we were finally settled in, we got Charlie. She looks nothing like our mother did, but exactly like Daddy. There was, however, one thing we had in common. Both she and I have these bright emerald eyes like Hermano Alessandro. Mother had brown eyes, deep and dark, when Daddy had the purest crystal blue eyes. Hermano Alessandro doesn't know where he got his eye color, either. Nobody in our entire history had them. Just the three of us," I say, looking at my uncle's eyes.

" Then, when Charlie was 7, something terible happened. Mother and Daddy were driving on a dark, rainy night, when a car came swerving around and hit them. It killed Mother instantly, and Daddy died later in the hospital. When Hermano Alessandro heard about it, he came and grabbed us and moved to America. He already owned the skyscraper because Grandpa had left it for him in his will." I gesture around the penthouse. "He made sure we got the very best place, which just happened to be the top."

Hermano Alessandro smiles. "Yeah, it's a good thing we're rich. I imagine it's difficult taking care of 11 people, and that's NOT including you and your sister." Suddenly, Lovi is reminded of something. "Wait, why do you call him _Hermano _Alessandro? Hermano means big brother, and he's your uncle." I smile. "Well, he's always been like a big brother to me. And besides, I'm the only one who calls him Hermano. Charlie calls him 'Uncle'." Lovi nods and smiles. "I get that."

Suddenly, France makes a tiny little moan in his sleep. I walk over to him and gently run my fingers through his hair, which seems to make him settle down. Hermano Alessandro smiles amusedly. "I had better go. Goodnight, _**la mia nipotina.**_ I have a big surprise for you, but I'll show you tomorrow." He gives me a hug and kisses my cheek, then pats Charlie on the head and leaves.

I walk back to the couch and fall on it, slightly exhausted. Lovi walks over and, seeing that there's no empty cushions, sits on my legs. "Mrrph," I say, throwing one of the couch pillows at him. He dodges it. Suddenly, Feli pops up from behind the couch. "Veeee! Hey, why are you and your uncle both born in South Italy?" he asks, pouting. Lovino laughs loudly and smirks. "Yeah, it's because I finally get the glory. Can't handle it? " Feli makes a sad face, and I shove a pillow over my head and go to sleep. Lovi soon falls asleep as well, just sitting on my legs and tilting his head on the back of the couch.

*NEXT MORNING*

I wake up with a weight laying across me. Pushing the pillow off of my head, I see that Lovino wasn't able to remain sitting up and now lays on top of my entire lower torso, still sleeping. Alfred stirs, then wakes up from the other couch. "Mornin'. Whoah, why is the other Italy sleeping on your legs?" he asks, rubbing his eyes. "I don't know. He was sitting on my legs and fell asleep after Hermano Alessandro left," I respond, shrugging.

As if on cue, my uncle bursts through the door. "Sorry if I didn't knock- hi - but I have to show you something!" I kick Lovi awake, earning a growl in response. Hermano Alessandro pays no heed. "You know how I told you there would be a surprise waiting for you today?" I nod my head and gesture for him to continue. "Well, this is it. Your grandmother in Naples isn't feeling too well, and we have to go and visit her. However, I know that there's no way you can leave all these people here and not come back to a flaming penthouse, so I arranged it for them as well. They can use my extra guest bedrooms, I have a lot of them!" he babbles excitedly. I shake my head, trying to grasp what he's saying. "Wait- you mean..." He looks at me, the excitement building. "WE'RE GOING TO ITALY!"

10 minutes later, everyone has been awakened and informed. We're all in our bedrooms, packing for the three-week stay. "We leave tonight, at 6:00!" Alessandro calls from the living room. I just roll up my clothing into little balls and secure them with rubber bands (it saves a lot of space). Soon, I'm all done packing. I zip up my slightly-bulging suitcase and put it by my door, writing on the little identification tag. I walk into France's room because there's no way he would ever finish packing in time, and sure enough, he's just sitting on the middle of his bedroom floor with fancy clothing everywhere. I chuckle quietly and walk in.

"Enjoying your packing?" I say, sitting next to Francis. He looks at me, confusion in his eyes. "No. I can never decide what to wear and it's taking me forever and we have to leave in 8 hours and I don't know if we'll be ready and all these shirts are too gorgeous and I-" I stop him. "No. I will help you. Now, the weather in Naples is warm. Let's not wear anything too... ruffle-y." France looks dejectedly at me. "Looks like we've narrowed down about half of my clothing." I grin.

10 emotionally charged minutes later, Francis is all packed up. He frowns at the clothing selection. "None of this is even half as fabulous as it should be." I just pull the suitcases out and write his name on the tags. "There. Now, while all the others are packing, we can go enjoy a walk together." France brightens up immediately and rushes to grab his coat. I smile and pull a scarf on. Turning around, I see Hermano Alessandro narrowing his eyes. "Are you dating this man?" he asks, poiniting at the place France was. I blush. "Ummm. I... well- you see- It's complicated." I stammer. Alessandro makes a motion toward the Italy Brothers' room. I start laughing. "No, no. I don't really have any romantic interest in them. I'm kind of torn between Francis and... another." My uncle raises one eyebrow. "I will find out," he says ominously as Francis comes out of the coat closet. "Ready to go for our walk, _ma cherie?_" he asks. I smile, forgetting my worries. "Yes. Let's go."


	20. Chapter 20: My Night Sky

(A/N: _Are you enjoying the story? Yaay! I love writing this. It's my only escape from the evil family I live with. Well, no matter about my personal crap. By the way, I've put a poll up on my profile about who should get Arietta, France or Germany. Oh, and my apologies. I can't find Hong Kong's human name anywhere. :l This story is kind of poetic at the end, but mostly describes my fictional grandma and my incredibly awesome room. Chapter 20: My Night Sky.) _

We finally arrive in Italy after a long flight full of arguing Italian twins and my annoyed little sister. Thankfully, nobody sustained serious injuries from the aforementioned sister, whose punishment was to pick up all the crumpled-up garbage she threw at Germany. As soon as I step off the plane, I see something amazing that wears a red dress and a smile that could melt the polar ice caps. I leap off of the last two plane steps, give my bag to Germany, and leap into her arms. She doesn't even stagger backward. "NAN!" I cry joyfully, burying my face in her shoulder. My grandmother laughs and kisses me on the cheek. Charlie sees her and drops the two bags she was holding, also leaping at Nan.

France raises an eyebrow at me as I finally release my grandma. "Oh!" I say, remembering exactly where I am. "Francis, this is my grandmother. But call her Nan. Nan, this is Francis. He's my...er...friend?" I say, blushing lightly. France smiles, takes her hand, and kisses it lightly. She looks surprised but pleased. Charlie just growls at him. "What's the matter, little one?" Nan asks her, bending down to look her in the eye. Charlie gets a mischievous look in her eyes, but it's replaced by fake innocence and fear. "Francis and Arietta like each other. But he's going to rip her heart into a million little pieces and throw the pieces into a river full of carnivorous shrimp, who will then attack Arietta's lifeless body and take it to The Land of Darkness."

Nan gives a full, loud laugh. "I see. Well, thankfully, there aren't any carnivorous shrimp rivers here. I suppose he'll have to wait until you get back to America for that," she chuckles as all the others exit the plane. I round up the 10 other countries with Hermano Alessandro's help. "These are all the people who live with me, Nan!" I say, gesturing to the semicircle of countries. She raises an eyebrow. "There's a lot of... men. Exactly how busy have you been for the last 10 years?" she asks critically, and I know exactly what she means. Ignoring France and Prussia's creepy laughter, I say "NO. No, no nonono. It's not like that. With **any **of them," I say, giving Francis a pointed look.

We all get on the rental motorcycles that Nan got for us (because why not) and head to Hermano Alessandro's place. America, Prussia, Hungary, Russia, Romano, and Hermano Alessandro all get their own motorcycles(Canada is riding with Nan to keep her company). I share America's motorcycle, Feli is with Lovi, Austria is clinging for dear life to Hungary, Germany is riding disgruntledly behind his excited brother, France is riding with Russia (with an upset Iggy in the side car), and Charlie and Hong Kong share Alessandro's motorcycle. I wrap one arm around America's waist so that I don't fall off, but the other arm is up in the air as I cheer loudly. France pouts at the fact that I'm having such a great time with Alfred, but I decide not to pay attention. After all, Alfred's just a friend, right? "YEAH DUDE'S THIS IS TOTALLY FRICKIN AWESOME IT'S BETTER THAN DRIVING THESE IN MY COUNTRY HAHAHAHAHA JUST KIDDING NOTHING IS BETTER THAN MY COUNTRY BUT THIS IS STILL REALLY FRICKIN AWESOME!" Alfred screams at the top of his lungs while I cheer. Germany swears loudly in response.

We finally arrive at Hermano Alessandro's beautiful 5-story house at . "Whoah," Alfred says as he gets off the motorcycle and helps me off. I have to agree with him. The house is huge, with a large garden in the front and vines growing up one side. France smiles in approval as he steps off the motorcycle and shakes his wind-blown hair. I run into the house before Hermano Alessandro can get off his motorcycle and fling myself into the arms of his maid, Sofia. "Arietta!" she exclaims, dropping the duster she was holding and hugging me. I kiss her on the cheek, then realize something. "Did you move anything from my room?" I ask, and she shakes her head, pointing upstairs with a grin. I fly up the stairs to the 5th floor and stop at the very end of the hall, where there's a light green door that contrasts to all the white ones. Pausing to take a breath, I slowly open the door.

Inside my room, the walls are painted sky blue with clouds and sunshine, while my ceiling is painted a deep, dark blue. I look at the remote lying on my bedside table and grin. Pressing a button on it, I smile as the ceiling opens up to reveal the gorgeous star-studded sky. I grab a telescope off the shelf, along with one of my old star charts, and immediately point it at the Eagle Nebula. "Wow," I breathe, admiring the pink and purple hues. This is truly home.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to find Germany standing behind me. "May I?" he asks, his voice soft. I scoot over and allow him to look in. "Vow. Zat is.. beautiful. Vat is it?" he asks, turning to me with eyes full of wonder. "The Eagle Nebula," I reply, smiling. "This is what I'd do every night that I was here. I must admit, I was- still am- incredibly spoiled. I took it well, though." I hear Francis entering the house and starting to carry his bag upstairs, but I pay no attention. Ludwig's eyes look as if he's been to heaven and back. "Zis is so... so beautiful," he says, his voice seemingly full of starlight. I smile. "Maybe tomorrow night I'll take you to the beach and we can look at stars there. I'm tired tonight, though. Goodnight, Ludwig." He smiles and leaves the room, entering the one across the hallway that contains his brother.

Finally, Francis enters the room. I close the ceiling as he places our bags down. "So I hear that you and I are to be sharing a room, however that worked out?" he asks, smiling. "Well, maybe I moved some people around. Besides, I think there are very few countries who don't want to strangle you here. This is pretty much protection for you." He chuckles lightly and sits on my sofa. "So I guess I'll sleep here." I nod and start to laugh as he realizes how comfortable the sofa is. "I can do that," he says, standing up. "You might want to get changed in your sleeping clothes first," I say. He nods and promptly pulls his shirt off as I make a strong attempt to hold in the fangirling. Thankfully, I just sleep in a tank top and shorts, which I'm already wearing under my clothing. I pull off the overclothes and ignore France's creepy laughter again. "Goodnight, Francis," I say, getting into the perfectly amazing bed which I finally possess again. "Goodnight, _ma cherie,"_ he whispers, and I fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	21. Chapter 21: Huge Surprises

(A/N: _Hey guys, I'm back! Did you enjoy that last chapter? By the way, keep the reviews coming! I reply to most of them. And I WOULD HAVE made Charlie's bedroom nice too, but none of her life took place in Italy until this last chapter. So that would bring more questions than it answered. Now, this is a small chapter. But it has romance, then a huge PLOT TWIST! Let's get into Chapter 21: Huge Surprises. )_

I wake up to the radio playing "How to Be A Heartbreaker" and Francis humming along to it as he brushes his teeth. Chuckling, I pull the blanket off and get out of bed. "Enjoying your sing-fest?" I laugh as I go into the closet and emerge wearing an emerald tank-top and cut-off jean shorts. He smiles at me and walks out of the bathroom. "It's not like you didn't enjoy listening," he says, grinning. I grab a brush and use it as a fake microphone, singing along. He smiles and starts singing too as he pulls a pair of jeans on. I finish brushing my hair, then leap on him and force him to give me a piggyback ride. "AAH! Wow. You're kind of light." he says, then spins me around so my legs are wrapped around his torso. "Much better," he says, kissing me.

Hermano Alessandro knocks twice on the door, and France puts me down. I walk over and open the door, seeing Alessandro standing there and holding Charlie, who is completely covered in tomato sauce. "What happened?" I ask, grabbing a towel and lifting my delicious-flavored sister. She scowls at France before allowing me to wipe the tomato from her face. "There was an accident with Feli in the kitchen..." she says, crinkling her nose as I wipe the sauce from her eyes. "He was trying to make a really, really big plate of pasta when I slid on the kitchen floor in my socks and... BOOM," she says, waving her hands dramatically. I roll my eyes and spray perfume on her as she coughs. "Eww, now I smell like petunias and death."

A few minutes later, I come out of her bedroom with tomato all over my shirt. France smirks as I walk in. "Hmm, having fun?" he asks, grinning. I throw a pillow at him and pull off my tank top, selecting a yellow one instead. "I hope you're enjoying me in all my tomato-covered glory." He grins and nods enthusiastically. Suddenly, an extremely loud noise comes from the room across the hall and "German Sparkle Party" comes blasting through what I can only assume is Prussia's radio. Sure enough, he bursts in the room dancing and being egotistical. "FREAKING FABULOUS!" I start rolling on the floor laughing as Germany runs in and drags his brother out.

I pull myself off of the floor and enter the Italy brothers' room. I see that the walls are blue, there's fake seaweed hanging from the ceiling, and little tiny seashells decorate shelves everywhere. I hear an annoyed moan from one of the huge canopy beds, and Lovino pops his head out. "Oh, hi, Arietta," he says tiredly. "Feli is in the shower rinsing burned tomato from his skin. I got only, like, two hours of sleep." I frown sympathetically and move to his bedside. "Do you need to come sleep in a room where nobody will be noisy? My room is empty right now, and it doesn't look like an ocean threw up everywhere," I say, gesturing to the tacky decorations. He nods gratefully, and I pull him out of bed.

We enter my room. Once France is shooed out and Lovi is sitting in my bed, I smile. "Okay," I say, walking over to a lever. "Now for the awesome part." I pull the lever, and suddenly the walls go from daytime-sky to deep navy blue. Little lights pop on, looking exactly like stars, and a small speaker in the ceiling plays soft Italian music. "Is this better than your tacky guest room?" I ask, and Lovi nods in amazement. I walk to the bed, smiling, and tuck the blankets in, handing him a button. "If you need anything, press this and I'll come up. Okay?" I ask, smiling at the look of wonder on his usually grumpy face. Then, I hug him, and he blushes bright red.

A recording of my mother's soft, beautiful voice comes over the speaker, singing a gentle lullaby. My eyes fill with tears as I suddenly remember everything that I've tried to forget for 8 years. Lovi looks at me and tilts his head, looking slightly confused. "What's the matter?" he asks, grabbing my hand. I look at him gratefully. "That's my mother's voice. I've never heard this recording before, but I know that voice." Before he can reply, the voice stops singing. "_My beautiful daughter. If you're hearing this, it means I'm no longer with you. But, my little one, I'm still alive. I do hope you're taking care of your little sister. This also means that you're 18, congratulations. I hope you're taking care of your little sister. And if you're hearing it, it means that you've found a lot of new friends. Yes, my darling. I planned this all. Do say hello to Ivan for me. And I hope that Francis hasn't bothered you too much? Though knowing you both, that's too much to hope. I hope you two live a very happy life together. Ciao, my little one. I'll see you soon." _

My jaw drops in shock. "Bu- wait. Mom... is still alive? And... she knows?" I ask myself, completely shocked. Lovino raises his eyebrows. "Wow, big mystery. Do you think that maybe we could..." He is about to say more, but he's stopped by a big yawn and a tired demeanor. I smile and brush the mess of hair out of his eyes. "Get some sleep, Lovi. There's a big adventure coming soon, and I can't have you at a disadvantage." I kiss him (I know, I'm a little surprised too) and exit the room, smiling when he makes a little gasp of shock.


End file.
